Surviving for the Four (To Be Loved)
by HarryRiddleBiggestFans
Summary: Summary : Rachel lost her husband and never once thought about love. She was busy with her four kids and lived with memory of her love, until she bumps into Santana. Santana is a self-made billionaire who'd been unlucky in love until she bumped into a certain brunette. Rachel/Santana, Random!Fic. Heavy!AU
1. The Encounter

_Summary : Rachel lost her husband and never once thought about love. She was busy with her four kids and lived with memory of her love, until she bumps into Santana. Santana is a self-made billionaire who'd been unlucky in love until she met Rachel._

As usual Santana was again on her cellular phone talking about business even on her way to the lavatory. She had excused herself from her current business dinner meeting in order to make a call. She was engulfed in the conversation and not paying attention to where she was going. She crashed right into a woman as she was walking out of the ladies room. His cell phone flew out of her hand and crash-landed on the floor into many pieces. The crash was so hard it knocked the woman on her rear end her purse's contents scattered all over the floor. There she was in her black dress that clung nicely around her curbs flat on her ass. Santana was about to start cursing at the woman when she noticed she was engulfed in laughter.

"I'm sorry," she said as she offered her hand to the smaller woman. Her first thought was this tiny brunette woman must be mad.

"No problem," she answered between giggles, "Accidents are bound to happen." She started to pick up all her things, and she was actually helping her. She didn't understand how this woman could laugh at the incident, but what was puzzling her even more was the fact that he was calm. She would have been yelling and cursing at who he would refer to as the idiot who interrupted a very important business call. They finished picking up all her things and stood face to face. She beamed at Santana with the most beautiful smile she had ever seen before. Her heart sank as if she stopped breathing for a moment. She felt as if she were drowning.

"I'm sorry about your cell phone," she spoke, but it was as if she did not hear. She was in a trance. "I said, I'm sorry about your cell phone," she repeated in a little louder voice.

Out of his trance she replied, "Uh, oh don't worry about it. Are you okay?" she finally spat out regaining her composure. "I should be the one who should be apologizing to you."

"I'm fine. Ust have a little run in my stocking, but no major damage." She joked. "Well, it was nice bumping into you. We should do it again sometimes." She continued as she was walking away. She stoold there again dumbfounded as she stared at her disappearing from her sight. Then her wits finally returned and she realized she doesn't know her name or anything else about her.

You idiot, she thought. She rushed straight to the place she was going to withought once thinking about her cell phone, which until that moment had been a very important part of her life. Much to her dismay, there was a shift change and the replacement did not know what she was talking about or whom she was talking about. She was so frustated that she made a lame excuse to cancel her business meeting. She burned rubber out of the driveway after she asked all the attendats if they saw the woman with the black dress. Of course there were many women in black dresses suffice it to say she did not get the answer she was looking for.

The attendants looked at each other with a she's gone crazy look. Although she frequented that restaurant mainly for her business meetings that was the first time the attendants witnessed that tupe of behavior from her. She was usually a calm woman who gave them big tips, but not tonight. Her emotions took over her. Her life had turned into complete dissaray by a complete stranger with big doe brown eyes in a black dress.

"Mom, what took you so long?" asked her ever curious daughter Kay. She was the more curious of the twins and technically the youngest of the family since she was born seconds after her broter Jay.

Following in a tradition she and her brother started, she decided to name her identical twins Kaylin and Jaylin with nicknames Kay and Jay for short.

"Well, if you must know darling, this very beautiful woman ran into me and knocked me down," she answered. She then realized what she said. She had referred to the stranger as beautiful. That was the first time in five years she ever noticed another man or woman's looks, she was never the one who choose the person from the gender since her parents and brother are gay so she's open for anything, but still this the first time she noticed this again.

"Sure mom," joked her oldest daughter Ally, "You probably went number two because of all the food you ate." She started giggling, then all of them started to laugh. The whole van was shaking with laughter. At the age of fiteen, she already towers her mom's 5'4" height, yes people told her that she was a very tiny woman, but for her she's in the fun size, she laughed at that thought.

"Anyway, thanks for the celebration mom," Anthony changed the subject. "You too Uncle Blaine. All your support means a lot to me. It's too bad Dad won't see me graduate," he added sadly. His father's death five years ago left him devastated. He was twelve going on thirteen when Charles died in a car accident. It was a time when he needed a father the most, when a boy was slowly becoming a man. Blaine moved in for a while to help his sister out with the kids. he became their male role model, but no one could take the place of their father.

At seventeen and about to graduate from high school Anthony still missed his da. The twins were a little over 1 year old and Ally was 10. The twins only really remember Blaine and Anthony as their dad, Ally who was dady's girl also missed him but when she turned twelve she looked more to her mom. That was the age she needed her mom, and Rachel did her best to always be there for her kids.

There were times when Rachel wanted to give up. The tragedy was a wake up call for her. She imeediately changed her whole way of life. Now instead of fretting over trivial things like someone bumping into her, she just laughs it off or finds some humor in the incidents. The tone inside the van turned somber as they pulled up to their house. Everyone entered the house almost dragging his or her feet.

"Tony, can I talk to you for a while?" Rachel asked her son. They stayed outside on the porch while Blaine took the other kids inside. "You know what, honey. Your father is with you all the time in your heart. He sees everything you do and I know that he is very proud of you just as I am." She paused to see if he was going to say anything. She continues, "You have come a long way and I know you can do whatever you put your mind to. But, I don't want you to forget that your family is her for you. I know there are things that you probably feel comfortably talking with another man, but you know that i am always available for you when you need to talk about anything." She smiled and lifted his head to meet hers. "You know I may not know a lot about what men go through, but I have a pretyt good idea."

"Mom, you've always been there for me and you have been a great dad as well as a mom, but I just miss dad sometimes."

"I know, honey, I do too. But, you still have your brother, sisters and me right? You even have your Uncle Blaine and Grandpa and Papa. You have a lot of people who love you so don't you ever forget that."

"I know how lucky I am, and I am thankful that I still have all of you. Sometimes I am just afraid, that when I turn around, I might lose you too."

"Not a chance, sweetheart, you're going to have your mom hanging aaround you for quite a long time that you may just get sick of me. So, why don't we talk about your graduation, the graduation party, and college? I still can't get over it. You are going to Standford." Tony's mood changed for the better. He's always dreamed of going to Stanford to study Pre-Med. He wanted to be a doctor ever since he received his frist doctor's toy kit. But most of all, he wanted to be a doctor just like his dad.

Oh, yeah. Can I talk to you about college?" he sounded serious again. Rachel's heart dropped. She was thinking he might have changed his mind about going to college. "If it's okay with you, I'd like to live at home for my first year of school?" Rachel's heart started beating again.

"Of course, I just thought you might have wanted to live in the dorms and meet new friends on your first year of college."

"Nah, I want to hang out here as long as I can."

"Well, then we may have to make a few living arrangements."

"Li what?"

"Oh, maybe we'll have to give you guys your own room so that you can study better."

"Really?"

"Yeah, I guess we could turn the den into Jay's room, and you can stay in your room. Unless you want to go into the den and Jay stays into your room now."

"I think I want to move into the den, since it's downstairs and it was where dad always read his medical books to me."

"Okay, then it's settled. This summer, we will have to re-build the den into your room." She rubs his head.

"Mom," he complains, "I'm too old for that."

"You know you're never too old for anything to me. So come here and give me a hug." He hugged his mom and he felt safer and reassured once again. She could always do that for him even when he was feeling down. Mom always made everything better and he couldn't imagine ever living without her. He'd barely started to leart what it was like to be without his dad.


	2. A Second Chance

_Summary : Rachel lost her husband and never once thought about love. She was busy with her four kids and lived with memory of her love, until she bumps into Santana. Santana is a self-made billionaire who'd been unlucky in love until she met Rachel._

"Uh-huh." Carlos commented as his daughter entered their house. "Now what happened? Last time you came home with a look like that on your face, you saw your ex-fiance. Wait, wait, let me see your face again." Carlos tried to make Santana laugh. He could tell that his daughter looked frustated, and as his daughter motto went, laughter was the best medicine. He was 75 years old and still very bright and alert. He always knew when his daughter was being bothered, that was when she went to their house, her childhood home, and talked to her parents.

Santana spotted the empty couch, which she bought for their parent's anniversary. The Victorian couch with light pastel colors with a touch of floral pattern beckoned to him. Santana sat on the couch quietly while she listened to her father trying to cheer her up. Maria heard her come in and walked into the living room where the two men sat.

"Oh, come on Carlos, let your daughter talk first before you go judging her," she tried to reprimand her husband.

"Come on honey, you know Santana only looks like that when she's in deep thought about something." Carlos continued hoping to see a smile from his daughter.

His youngest girl hand been through so many things in her life and he always said a prayer every night for his daughter to finally find happiness and peace before he passed on. Santana was the fourght of five kids, three girls and two boys. Her older sisters and brother were all happily married with children and even grandchildren and her youngest brother who might be following in her footsteps was still single, but at least he had her kids. santana, however, had been unlucky in love and her answer to that was to build a business empire where she thought she would find happiness. Much to his surprise, she was still unhappy and still had not found peace within herself.

"Oh, Carlos. Let her talk before you start battering your mouth again. Santana, mija, was there something you want to talk to us about?" Maria asked her gently. At a ripe age of 74, she was still a striking woman. Her hair was all white, and her face showed the many years she'd lived, but eyes still twinkled brightly though her body might not.

"Well, kind of," Santana answered timidly. She finally let out her frustrations, which she did so easily with her parents. She knew whatever she told them they would never think less of her. "I bumped into the most amazing woman tonight, and off all the dumbest thing I have ever done, I stood there like an idiot and watched her walk out of my life without asking her name."

"Well, that is serious," answered Carlos without laughing.

"Papi, I am serious here," she answered frustrated.

"Carlos, would you let your mija contnue. Go on dear, what do you have. A phone number perhaps?" Maria asked always the mediator of the family.

"Not exactly," Santana answered while her father's eyes twinkle with laughter. "Papi you find my dilemma a bit amusing?"

"In a way," he answered trying not to burst out with laughter. "You say you bumped into a beautiful woman and you didn't ask for her name!"

"I was too stunned to talk, and when I did everything came out wrong."

"Well, dear, do you have anything of hers that may lead you ro an identification?"

"Nothing. Nothing at all but a memory of her face and smile."

"Great, Santana. Now, out of all the women in this huge city, how are you going to find this gorgeous woman without a name to start with?" Carlos was very amused and was not trying to hide it."

"Papi, you're no help."

"Well, mija, I don't know where to start looking without any lead. I know I was a great detective, but even great detectives need a little clue."

"Oh, and I suppose you find my dilemma amusing."

"If you stop being such a baby and think, you will see how silly all this was. Maybe if you stop and think a bit, you may find a little solution to your problem, like maybe hanging out at the restaurant every night and see if she shows up. Or" Carlos continues with great laughter, "you can have a composite drawing of her done at the police station and post it all over town." This earned a smile from Santana, She finally realized how silly she'd been acting. She should use her head and figure out a way to find the woman.

"Now I'm glad we have that settled, are you hungry Santana?"

"Well, now that you mention it. I am. I was so mad at my stupidity that I rushed out of the restaurant without eating."

"Go eat. I made your favorite. Roast beef. I had a feeling you were stopping by tonight. Call it a mother's intuition." Maria said, "Thank you, Mami." She said and walked to the kitchen. She always loved her mother's cooking. She knew that talking to her parents would put some kind of perspective on her problem. She was right. She knew what to do. She would need a plan. But for now she would eat and sleep on it. Things would look brighter in the morning.

A week passed and still Santana had no clue as to the mystery woman's identity. She'd been frequenting the restaurant for lunch and dinner. She did not see her once. She was beginning to give up. She was beginning to think that she dreamt it all, but she could not have because she still kept her broken cell phone. It was a hopeless case for her. She'd been a wreck. She'd even cancelled or postponed many of her business appointments. Her assistant, Kurt, had been a little worried about her.

"San, your 11 o'clock appointment was here to see you," he told her calmly over the intercom.

"Oh, I thought we cancelled that one. What was it?"

"It's a photo shoot for the magazine story that you were interviewed for two weeks ago."

"Tell him it wil only take 10-15 minutes of his time." Rachel assured him. Kurt told Santana.

"Okay, send him in." Santana gave in. Kurt did not bother correcting his boss of the gender. He noticed she'd been down in a slump for days and he did not want him to take out whatever she was feeling on him.

Santana's back was turned when Rachel walked in her office. The lights were a little lower than usual. It was reflecting her emotions. She had her cell phone on one hand and the telephone on the other. She heard the door shut behind her, but did not bother turning around to greet her visito.

"Okay, just give me a minute. You can set up whatever you want."

"Do you mind if I turn on some lights?" she asked.

Santana remember that voice. She just hung the phones up and turned around quickly before she disappeared again. She was sure it was her mystery woman. She stood up to meet that wonderful mesmerizing smile that had been haunting her dreams for past week. She'd been dreaming about her every night only to find herself alone and nowhere near finding out any information about her.

Rachel realized that it was the beautiful stranger tha had been invading her dream world for many nights. She had to admit after the third night of waking up in a cold sweat that she had to do something about this woman. She felt guilty because all her dreams of Charles suddenly changed and was invaded by the stranger's face.

"Hey, it's you. I see you got a new cell phone." She was quicker to recover than Santana. "My name is Rachel Berry." She introduced herself as she stretched out her hand. Finally recovering from the initial shock, Santana took her hand in hers. She couldn't get over her luck. Of all the places in the worlds to finally see her again, she never dreamed it was going to be in her office.

In her dreams, she was always in the restaurant and they would see each other across the hall and when she looked again she was gone. Never would she have imagined that it would be business that brought them together. Nevertheless, she was so glad she could see her again. She wouldn't be so stupid with the second chance staring her in the face.

"Santana Lopez," she responded. She could have sworn she felt some kind of electricity run through her body when she touched her hands. As for Rachel, the encounter brought her some feelings she'd never felt before or rather awakened some feelings she'd kept hidden for a long time. Her body tingled all over. But, as usual she shook it off and chided herself for those feelings.

"Nice to meet you," she answered. "Here;s my card by the way. So you're the famous Santana Lopez."

"I don't know about famous, Santana the Klutz maybe," she smiled reminding her of their first encounter. Lord did she love her smile. This was the first time she really got a look at her smile, but it was breathtaking to look at. She thought for sure she was melting.

"Oh, that. Don't worry about it. I've recovered," she joked. "So, if you don't mind I am going to turn on some lights so that my camera can actually see you." By the way she was affecting her, it was a good idea to turn on some lights, the room was too dark to be comfortable. The low lights made the room a little romantic despite the fact that it was an office.

"Sure, I'm sorry. Let me do that." She walked over to the light switch and turned on the lights. She then noticed her outfit. How couldn't she? She was wearing blue jeans that clung her legs, she got such long legs for someone as tiny as her, white v-neck knit shirt that also clung to her form and black boots. Her clothes revealed her beautiful body. She looked so sexy, she never seizes to amaze her.

"Where do you want me to stand?" Rachel had already started to take pictures of her. She had not noticed the way Santana was looking at her seconds ago. She had to control herself. She was acting like a gren schoolboy. She was stirring a lot of responses from her body she'd have to take a cold shower after she left. Santana didn't even think about trying to seduce her. She knew somehow that having a one-night stand type with her would never do. Santana wanted this woman and she knew just as she was sure that sun would rise tomorrow that she was the woman she'd been waiting for all her life. She wanted her mind, body and soul. Now she needed to make sure she wouldn't disappear like she did in her dreams.

"Actually, just keep talking and walk back to your desk. Pretend I am not taking your picture. We are jsut have a conversation." She didn't like taking pictures when people are actually posing. She liked to take pictures of people doing natural things or doing everyday things. She liked to capture people's natural reactions. She thought it made the pictures have more personality and gave more stories about their character. A picture was worth a thousand words and she believed that. But she believed that it was only worth anything when the picture was taken naturally.

That surprised Santana, all the other photographers before would ask her to sit at a certain place. Tilt her head a certain way or stand a certain way. Other photographers would tell her to grab the phone and pretend she was talking. This seemed to tell her a lot about her. For one she didn't like pretense. She liked her even more now.

Rachel would stop now and then and looked at her to answer her question or asked her a question.

"So how long have you been taking pictures for my magazine?" She thought this may surprise her, but it didn't. Rachel knew the name of the owner, the only thing she didn't know was what how she looked. She never really read the type of magazines where she would be featured. This was the first time Santana was being featured in a non-financial magazin. She'd been covered under Forbes, Fortune, Money Magazine etc. But never in her own magazine until now. She didn't really want to be featured this time, but her editor in chief and good friend of her suggested that her readers would like to know the woman behind the power. They were even thinking of adding a piece about her being the most eligible bachelor, but Quinn knew better than t broach the subject.

Quinn had been her editor for as long as she'd had the magazine and she knew as a friend that Santana never liked her status as bachelor featured anywhere. Although, she'd been on the cover of the Enquirer, Star and practically all the tabloids out on the stand, she would not directly answer her marital status.

"I've been taking pictures ever since I knew how to point and shoot. Professionally, just little over five years, with your magazine technically I don't work for your magazine. I freelance, but my relationship with your magazine will reach its four year anniversary in May." This really intrigued Santana even more. She knew that Quinn didn't hire just anyone for her magazine, and to hire her on an as need basis piqued her interest even more.

"Quinn calls me when she needs a photographer with an 'objective point of view' as she puts it," she continues. Santana was agian n deep thought about Rachel. She kept snapping pictures.

"Are you always this chatty, Ms. Lopez?" she asked to break the awkward moment of silent for her. Santana smiled as Rachel snapped a picture of her with a genuine smile. She really needed to take control of herself. Every time she smiled she felt like giggling and her knees felt like buckling under her.

"I was just thinking," she finally answered. "If you must know, I think a lot. Oh, and please call me Santana."

"Okay, I think we're done here." No, Santana almost screamed. She finally found her, there was no way she was going to be an idiot the second time.

"Do you have another appointment lined up?" she asked.

"No, not really. Why?"

"What about lunch?"

"That's not necessary." She tried to get out of it. She found that there was something about this woman that was disarming. Santana made her chattier more than usual. She even made her feel safe. She hadn't felt safe in a long time. And when she smiled, Lord she felt like melting.

"Please, I insist. I wanted to make up for knocking you off your feet last time." She was going to add 'the way you knocked me off mine' but decided she'd better not. She was hoping she would accept. She wanted to talk to her more. She wated to get to know her better. In truth, she wished she would stay with her forever. That surprised her.

"Well, since you put it that way, okay."she didn't think having lunch with one of the richest woman in the state or maybe in the country would hurt, as long as she didn't smile anymore. she might end up giggling.

"You can leave your things here for a while. We'll take the company car." She finally getting her wits back. "Kurt, will you please have the car waiting out front and go have somelunch."

"Yes, ma'am." He answered. He also noticed that her mood was a little lighter, but he's not about to tell her that. Rachel may have done what no one else was able to do to his boss in very long time. She'd made her relax and smile. He was sure that he heard the smile in her voice.


	3. Getting To Know Each Other

_**Summary : Rachel lost her husband and never once thought about love. She was busy with her four kids and lived with memory of her love, until she bumps into Santana. Santana is a self-made billionaire who'd been unlucky in love until**__ she met Rachel._

Santana walked Rachel down to the front lobby where her limousine was waiting for them. The ride down the elevator was a little quiet. Neither said a word. Santana was busy still taking her sight in. She was memorizing every single detail of her face and body. She noticed the mole abover her right eye and the small scar near the middle of her chin. She thought it made her look more appealing because she could at least say she was human.

Rachel was a little nervous. She didn't usually accept lunch invitations from men or women she just met. She was questioning her judgment, but remembered the safeness she felt with the touch of her hand and from her mere presence. Santana let her go inside the limo first. She told the driver to take them to the restaurant. Back to where they first met.

"You must be a very extraordinary photographer." Santana started to break the ice.

"Oh, why do you say that," she asked trying not to look at her. Every time she looked at her, her stomach turned to jelly. She just started to notice that when she was taking her pictures. She noticed just how beautiful the latina is, the perfect straight teeth when she smiled and mesmerizing eyes when she looked at her.

"Quinn, only hires the best. And since she hires you for the "objective" assigments that means she trusts you a lot."

"So, I guess she couldn't trust anyone else to take your pictures huh?"

"No one objective probably." Santana answered with a big smile. Rachel almost melted away. She was now doing to her what she did to him. Of course neither of them knew how they were affecting each other. They were just confused about how they felt about the other. She was getting more and more comfortable with the brunette presence while she on the other hand was getting a little distracted. She knew how to get her wits back though, after a few seconds of internal meditation, she was getting her emotions back in check.

"Well, she probably knew I wouldn't try to sell your pictures to the highest bidder, that's why," she retorted with that beaming smile that the latina had grown fond of in a short time. She knew that was probably why Quinn choses her.

Quinn would not have trusted just anyone with her pictures. There had been pictures of her in the National Enquirer with altered photohraps of her and all the rumours it caused her. Ever since those publications were printed, she would request no pictures to be taken during interviews. She looked down at the brunette's hand and saw her fidgeting with a ring on her left hand. Her heart took a dive. It was a wedding band! That infuriated her. She saw her dreams just go down the drain. Why would she even agree to have lunch with her? Was that why she was a little fidgety? Figures, all women were alike she thought. She decided to test her even more.

"I noticed you are wearing a ring. Are you married?"

"Not really." She answered but a little hesitant to discuss her marital status. That was filling her with anger. She was feeling betrayed all over again. She decided to go further. She was determined to get to the truth.

"Divorced?" she asked through gritted teeth, which she didn't notice. But, Rachel did and she decided to get the truth out in the open. She felt a sense of trust for Santana even with just a few hours of interaction. She also felt the need to let her know the truth. There was a strong urge for her to be on good terms with the latina she just formally met. She couldn't explain it, but she was drawn to her.

"If you must know, I am a widow. My husband died five years ago." She still felt pain when this subject was broached, but not as much as when it first happened to her. She had dealt with what fate had given her and she did very well considering the circumstances. She had been working as a newspaper researcher fulltime and had been writing children's books part time. When Charles died, her whole life had to be re-arranged. Her household income was cut drastically and she had to take drastic measures to take care of her kids and her home.

Fortunately, Charles's insurance covered the house, the funeral arrangements and she had put enough aside for the kid's college education. She just had to deal with their daily lives and other bills. She couldn't afford childcare and she didn't want to sell the house. Blaine moved in to help her out by paying minimal rent and shouldering some of the utility bills for a short time.

Santana could see the pain that the answer had caused and she wished she hadn't asked the question at all. She hated seeing her hurt and it was the last thing she ever wanted to do, but pride got the better of her and it was too late to take it back.

"I'm sorry," she started. "I didn't know."

"Oh, no. That's okay. I just get a little emotional every time I think of the way he was taken from me." She answered candidly. She was glad this was out in the open between the two of them. For some reason, she felt it was important for the latina to know.

"Do you want to talk about it some more?" She asked. "It may help you out."

"Charlie, that was his name, he was a doctor. He was called into the hospital to help out in the emergency room. There was a horrible bus accident on the Highway 101 and they were short on doctors. It was a rainy night, but duty called. I asked him to be careful, but I knew he would. He was a pretty safe driver." Rachel was trying to hold her tears in, but was losing the battle.

"On his way to the hospital, he – he lost control of the car and went into the ravie. He – he died on impact."

Santana did not know what to say. She could tell that the brunette loved her husband. She instinctively held her hands and handed her handkerchief. She wanted to hold the smaller woman and tell her that everything would be okay and that she was there for her now. But how could she, they just met. Beside, she was married to the man she probably did not feel anything for her. She would think that she's crazy. It was driving her crazy being so helpless. It hurt her to see tears blur her beautiful brown eyes. Santana went closer and just held her.

Rachel felt a whole sense of relief from telling her the story. She felt the safeness again and she liked being held by the taller woman. This scared her and she pulled away from the latina.

"Thanks, I – I'm feeling better." She wiped her tears and her nose. "I'm sorry, I don't usually become so emotional. As far as my ring was concerned, it has become a habit. For the first few years, it was deniel, but now just a habit."

"Oh no, don't worry about it. I'm sorry. I think I pushed you with my stupid question."

The car stopped in front of the Guilliani's. The chauffer opened the door and Santana stepped out. She held out her hand to help Rachel out. She was not used this. Even Charlie never opened the door for her. It was weird, but she knew she could get used to it. They walked in the restaurant and the maitre d' was the man Santana hounded that night they bumped into each other. He recognized Santana and almost wanted to run away, but then he noticed that Rachel was with her. He greeted them insted.

"Segniorina Lopez, good to see you again," he lied. "Would you like a table for you and the segniorina?"

Rachel was flattered. Santana noticed her blushing and loved every moment of it. She loved the way she looked with a little blush in her cheek. She did notice that she hardly wore any make-up and still looked amazing. The latina was finding that she liked every little bit about her. She knew she was gone. She had fallen deep into the pit and could not get out. Her heart was beating to a different drum every time she thought about the little brunette and now she knew that for sure. She was destined to meet her and was a little relieved that she never went ahead with her first engagement.

As the maitre d' was walking them to their table, he whispered to Santana, "Was this her?" in Italian, Santana nodded and smiled at the maitre d'. Rachel heard a bit of the sentence, but her Italian was rusty and she did not get a clear traslation in her head. Santana pulled the chair out for her and pushed it back in. This was definetely new to Rachel. But, she was enjoying it.

"Graci, Franco." Santana thanked the maitre d' by name.

"No problem, segniorina. Giovanni will be here in a few minutes to take your order." Franco repled as he handed them their menus. He was actually happy for Santana. He had been tormenting her for the past week. Rachel decided to ask Santana what Franco had whispered to her. "So, what did he say?"

"I'll tell you about it some other time. You will laugh when you hear it and you will probably think I am some sort of nerd. Why don't we eat first?" She dodged the answer. She was too embarrassed to tell Rachel how she was like a love sick schoolboy trying to find her or maybe almost like a woman possessed in search for her.

"Okay, you have to promise. My Italian was not very good so I couldn't really understand."

"I promise." She answered and she knew she was going to keep her promises to her. Wait a minute; she said her Italian was rusty. Again, it was another surprise for Santana. What else could this woman do? She decided to ask her. "So, you said you only take pictures part time, what else do you do?"

"You mean aside from PTA meetings, driving to soccer practice, football practice, swimming practice, martial arts classes, the mall?" she joked. She loved doing all those things. Being part of her children's activities had always been the most important part of her life. Santana noticed the twinkle in her eyes when she was talking about all her activities. Now she was even more curious. How many kids does she have? Most importantly would they like her? But, first thing's first, does she even like her? What would she think about having a more serious relationship with her?

"Yes, and while you're at it. How many chidlren do you have?" Santana was enjoying this conversation. She felt as if she had always been part of her life. It was dejavu, they've had this conversation before.

"Well, which do you want first?" She asked. But the waiter showed up and had to put her answer on hold.

"Hello, my name is Giovanni. I will be your server for today. What could I get you?" He said out in one breath and in a slight Italian accent.

"Rachie, why don't you go first," he noticed a little shock in her eyes. "I'm sorry, was it okay to call you Rachie? I should have asked first."

"That's fine. I will have a Petto di Pollo con Melanzane e Groviera," she announced in her best Italian accent.

"And you segniora Lopez?"

"I will have the Costarelle D'Abbacchio Scottadito."

"Anything to drink?"

"Water for me, please" replied Rachel.

"Me too." Answered Santana, "and a bottle.." before she could finish her sentence, Rachel was already shaking her head admantly. She decided not to order any wine. She understood and respected her choice. It amazed her how she was able to understand Rachel's unspoken words. She decided that she liked it.

"Okay, I will return with your water."

"Thank you," answered Rachel first. Santana decided to poke again with the name.

"So, are you sure if it's okay to call you Rachie?"

"Yes, it's just that I hadn't heard that since Blaine and I were kids. That was what he called me." A little white lie, but the truth was something she was not ready to reveal to anyone, especially not to a person she just met.

"Well, then, why don't you finish telling me about your kids and your full time job." Santana noticed the twinkle back in her eyes.

"I have four kids. anthony who will be turning 18 in August, Alyxandra who just turned 15 and the twins Jaylen and Kaylen who just turned six this year. Anthony will be going to Stanford in the fall and will be studying Pre-Med. He even earned a scholarship to play on their football team. Right now he's practicing for their swim tournament. Ally was in the volleyball team, basketball team, and the jazz dance group. The twins are in soccer and taking swimming lessons as well. Blaine helps me out with the driving, but I am always there to watch their games or performances. Aside from all that, I write."

"You're amazing." Santana blurted out. She didn't mean to say that but it was what she was feeling.

"Well, thank you. I think." She wasn't exactly sure how to take it. She didn't even really know her.

"No, I mean that as a compliment. I never understood how my parents handled the five of us, but they had each other. You, well you know what I mean." She couldn't explain the compelling feelings for her.

"I think so," she answered a little puzzled. "Anyway, have you ever heard of Timmy and Tammy the tiger cubs?" Santana looked lost with the question.

Rachel decided to explain further. "They're my characters for the books I write. But, unless you have children you may not have even heard of them or even read them." Then it drawned on Santana, they're the books her sister's grandkids bring with them wherever they went. They loved the stories and the characters. It was probably because she fashioned them from what her twins used to do or had done when they were younger. It taught kids to use their imagination and to find the courage within his or herself.

"My sister loves those books," she finally said. This brought a puzzled look on Rachel's face. "I mean she loves buying them for her grandkids. She probably has every single copy of them."

"Really?" she said excitedly.

She'd been in a book signing sessions, but she didn't believe everyone who goes to those events were real fans. Sometimes they just went to get their books signed so that they could say they met a celebrity or have an autograph that may be worth something someday. To meet someone who actually knew someone who was a real fan of the books she wrote was priceless. She knew her books had done exceptionally well, she'd seen the book sales report and the check every month from her royalties. This was a complete surprise for her, but she accepted it with open arms. It was what had helped her financially when Charlie died and kept her busy during the long lonely nights.

"You sound surprised?"

"Well, I never really met anyone that knew someone who collected my books. I know people buy them, but to have everyone have them was amazing."

"My sister was going to flip when I tell her."

"Well, make sure you tell her that you met the famous Rachel Berry, then." She joked as Santana chuckled at that.

"So, speaking of famous, you're pretty famous yourself huh?"

"Nah, the way I see it Timmy and Tammy are famous. They would get recognized before I even get recognized." She told her chuckled.

"You are too modest." Santana concluded.

Giovanni brought them their food, and they ate without further discussion of fame.

Santana just kept her eyes on Rachel while she ate and she did the same. They didn't notice they were gazing into each others eyes like some kind of newlweds. Of course, Franco noticed, but he wasn't about to interrupt them. He even told Giovanni not to bother offering them dessert. They finished their lunch, but neither felt like getting up any time soon. But reality crept into Rachel's consciousnes; she remembered she had obligations to keep. Although, she was enjoying herself in Santana's company. She felt guilty that she was enjoying herself so much.

"Sorry to cut our lunch, Ms. Lopez." She started.

"Call me Santana, if I could call you Rachie you could certainly call me Santana." She corrected her.

"OK, Santana. I don't want to rush you with your lunch or anything. I know you haven't had dessert yet, but I have to get my kids from school." But why didn't she feel like leaving? She shook that feeling. "You could stay here and have dessert, I could call a cab to take me back to your office."

"Nonsense," she said adamantly. "I took you here and I will certainly take you back." She was a little irritated that the moment had to come to an ebd. But she knew better than to force anyone to her will. She had never been that way and she won't start now.

She called for the bill and paid. She and Rachel walked out into the clear, crisp spring air. The sky was a little cloudy, which was a typical spring weather in the bay area, but the sun had found its way out of the cloud that had been hiding it. It was a little brighter than the semi-dark ambience inside the restaurant, but a welcomed brightness after the dark winter months.

The drive was a little quiet and less emotional. Santana was thinking of ways to keep her into her view longer, but she knew that was a lost cause. She had to find a way to see her again. She wanted to ask her out, but she knew that for Rachie she had to plan it because from their brief encounter she could tell that she was not the kind of person to just go on a date in the spur of the moment. She had a lot of responsibilities and she loved it. Then there was the part of how her kids would take start dating again. She knew too well what it felt like to be overcome with devastation and she knew too well how long the recovery process took. For an adult her recovery was quite long, she couldn't imagine how it would be like for children. She decided not to ask her out today. She would find another way.

Rachel was staring at her trying to think of what she was thinking. She was hoping that she didn't think that she was some kind of a Ninny for spilling her guts out and crying in front of her. She was a little embarrassed it happened, but she was glad that she held her. It felt good to be held. Blaine held her when she cried at night after the kids went to bed, but he was her brother. It felt better to be held by Santana of all people.

Santana was probably the most wanted or better yet sought out bachelor in America. Why would she be interested in someone who had four kids? she was doubting herself again. Rachel was confident, beautiful, and intelligent, and very beautiful woman who could have any woman or man for that matter in the world at her beck and call, she wouldn't waste her time on an old run down mother of four.

She hated that she was even considering having some kind of relationship with Santana other than business or friendship. She told herself to focus. She didn't need to complicate her life even more than it already was. On that note, she was comfortable with her solution.

_**Sorry for the mistaken grammar, will do my best to fix them later.**_

_**Enjoy and thank you for your kind reviews.**_


	4. The Worth of Pictures

_**Summary : Rachel lost her husband and never once thought about love. She was busy with her four kids and lived with memory of her love, until she bumps into Santana. Santana is a self-made billionaire who'd been unlucky in love until**__ she met Rachel._

Kurt was already at his desk when they arrived. He was sitting at his post busy answering the phone and writing down messages. He looked up and saw Rachel and Santna walk in. Rachel smiled at him and Santana waived back. He was a little surprised to see Rachel come back to the office and more surprised that his boss actually took someone to lunch that was not on her calendar. He let it go, being a romantic himself an watching his boss go through her up and downs for the past 10 years was a roller coaster even for him.

But he loved working for Santana, she was flexible with his schedules, she also very generous with his salary increases and profit sharing bonuses. Santana liked him as well. He was descreet and was able to handle even her bad days. He was the only assistant that was able to do that.

She had gone though at least a dozen assistants before Kurt. She was relieved to have found someone who was competent and who knew how to mind his own business and keep things in the office place where they belong. With the others, there was always some kind of rumor going around Santana or about the company that was far from the truth or was distorted after being past from one person to another. She trusted Kurt, sometimes she even told him about her problems and those conversations much to her surprise remained between the two of them.

She'd even invited Kurt and his family over for dinner or to her parties. To her, he was part of her family and she was part of him. That was how close they became. So, he knew better than to speculate her relationship with Rachel. She would let him know when she wanted him to know.

Santana opened the door for Rachel and avoided looking at Kurt. She didn't feel like explaining Rachel to him yet. She was not sure yet how she fetl, but she knew whatever she was feeling was very strong. Rachel walked slowly to retrive her bags and jacket.

"Thank you for lunch," she reached out her hand for a handshake. "It was wonderful." Santana didn't want to shake her hands because she knew that if she touched her, she would not want to let go anytime soon. She did anyway and a sharp pain surged through her heart when she let go. Rachel felt it too and she didn't understand why she was feeling the way she was.

"I'm glad you enjoyed it," was all she could say. She felt a lump in her throat and she hated not being able to express herself fullt. She could not understand why her emotions were so extreme around Rachel. She was at a lost for words.

"I'd better pick up my kids and get these developed and turned into Quinn before 5 today." She wanted to just run out of there. She was turning emotional again and her insides were turning into mush. "I hope they turn out the way you want it." She turned around and walked out the door so that she wouldn't see all the emotions that she knew were apparent in her eyes. She was used to hiding her emotions especially from her family, but it seems she's losing the battle today. Santana made her so vulnerable it amazed even herself.

Sanatana just felt her heart drop as she walked out of her door. She had to see her again, there was no way this was the end of their relationship even before anything started. Rachel waived at Kurt but averted her eyes so he couldn't see what she was feeling. She never wore her heart on her sleeves when it came to other things besides her pride and joy for her kids. that was the first time for her. She was full of surprises to herself today. She had to focus! FOCUS!

Rachel tried to go back into her routine after leaving Santana's office. That was difficult, but was able to focus herself after a few hours. She picked up the twins from school and went home. Alyxandra and Tony had their swimming and basketball practices so she wasn't expecting them until later.

She could always count on the twins to averty her attention from herself to them. She gave them their snacks and sat down to cuddle with them for about a few minutes before they started on their homework. They did not have soccer practice. That gave her time to develop the pictures before her deadline. She would make proofs and then print what she thought was appropriate for the article. She was dreading having to develop the pictures of Santana. Seeing his picture might throw her back into the emotional couster she was going through all the time she was with him. But she had to do her job. She sent the twins to do their homework and off she went to her darkroom.

She had converted the downstairs bathroom into her darkroom when she needed it, which had been most of the time for past few months. Quinn had been giving her a lot of assignments lately. She wondered about that. She pushed the thought aside and just thought of it as Quinn had told her due to lack of Staffing. She was complaining about losing three photographers in the last month or so. But rumor was, she'd been firing them because of lack of confidentiality and some were fired due to indecent pictures.

She had the reputation of the magazine to think about and having those photographers tied to him and what she called her "baby" was unthinkable. She'd been editor of Santana's magazine when it first started and since Santana did not really know much about magazine editing, she let Quinn run it the way she saw fit.

In a sense every success of the magazine due to Quinn, Santana was thankful for that. She was in no position to see things through after she first started the publication of 'The Bay.' She took care of the marketing, but Quinn did the rest. Santana was very lucky indeed to have people such as Quinn and Kurt working for her otherwise she would have been lost.

The other part of her business kept her too preoccupied for the magazine, Quinn was a God send for her. Quinn was a good friend to Santana and had always been a great friend to Rachel. They had known each other since she worked at the local newspaper as a researcher and she was co-editor. They kept in touch after Quinn left to begin new career with 'The Bay', and she has always known what a great photographer Rachel was by the pictures she was taking out of hobby. So when she heard of her husband's death, she immediately posed the position for her to become a freelance photographer for her.

Quinn knew that Rachel needed the extra cash, and even though she never really took on other projects other than those Quinn gave her, she had been getting rave reviews on her photographs. All her assigments had to be local because there was no way she was going to leave her kids behind without a parent. She wanted to provide them with security as well as her physical presence. So far, she'd been doing a great job. Her kids were growing with confidence. They were intelligent and were very focused, except maybe for the twins. They were still a little young.

The proofs were ready. Rachel brought her magnifying glass out to view them clearly. She had other pictures on the roll of film from another assignment. She went through those quickly and picked out a picture that she thought would be good for the article. Then she got to Santana's pictures.

She had at least a dozen pictures to look at. How was she going to get through this? FOCUS! The first few were fine, it was when Santana was walking to her desk. Then she got to the one where she was smiling. That was it. She was disarmed once again. She had to put the proofs down for a moment. She knew that was the one she wanted to blow up.

She was pondering whether she wanted to keep one for herself. She decided she'd better not. She was a professional and she had to give up the pictures and the negatives. It had been a stipulation in her contract. All the pictures she took would be a property of 'The Bay' magazine, however, they would provide her with copies for her portfolio upon her request. She didn't see it fit to request for a picture of Santana. Quinn would see right through her. She went back into the dark room and blew up that picture of Santana and the one of the homeless alley. She hurried so that she could put it in an envelope and not have to look at it anymore. there was a knock on the door.

"Give me two more minutes," she said. Everyone in the household knew how the darkroom worked, they could not rush the process.

"Okay, I need help with my homework mommy," responded Kay. "So does Jay." Rachel smiled to herself at her twins adorable little voices.

"Okay, sit on the couch and wait for me. The pictures are just about done. I just need to dry them up okay."

"Okay," the two answered simultaneously. They walked to the couch and started playing. Ally and Tony walked in the house and the twins ran to give them both a hug.

"Where's mom?" Ally asked.

"In the black room," answered Jay. They liked to refer to her dark room as the black room because that was what it was painted with. Just then Rachel walked out with the pictures in hand.

"Hi guys," she said. "How was practice?"

"Good," answered Tony. "I think we have a chance at the championship."

"That's great!" she replied as she was placing the pictures, proofs and negatives into their respective envelopes. Tony noticed Santana's picture. He ran to take a look at it.

"Hey, mom. Who is it?" he asked as he practically grabbed the picture from Rachel's hands. "She's a hottie. You must have enjoyed this assignment huh?" Rachel blushed, but her kids did not notice.

"Tony, you think everyone was a hottie," answered Ally. Ally showed Tony the picture. "I guess she's alright, if you're a boy." She dismissed it.

"That's the owner of The Bay," Rachel explained. "Can I have them back now, we have to drop them off no later than 5:30, then we'll go have dinner. I didn't have time to cook today."

"She's young though," Tony said, "I pictured an old man with a bald spot and white hair."

"That goes to show you young man never assume anything. Why don't you and Ally change while I help the twins with their homework, and at least start on your homework. You can finish them after dinner." Tony gave her the picture back and went upstairs.

They were very good at listening to their mother. Tony and ally were a little older when their father died and were both old enough to understand the sacrifices she had to make to raise them on her own. Their Uncle Blaine was a lot of help and so were their grandparents, but they recognized how many things their mother had given up for them.

Tony and ally were old enough to remember when their mother's work as a researcher took her to a many places, sometimes when they didn't have school, they went with her. But when she was gone for a few days, they always had their dad and Rachel was comfortable with that. She didn't like the idea, but the bay area was an expensive place to live so even on Charlie's salary as a doctor she still needed to work in order to live the life they wanted and supplied their kids what they needed.

Rachel helped the twins out with their homework, sometimes they just pretended they didn't know how to do their homework because they just wanted their mom near them. They liked to spend as much time as they can with her. She was the only parent they knew and they loved her very much.

She enjoyed helping them, even when she knew they were just pretending they didn't know what they were doing. She wanted them to be independent and they were when Rachel was not around, and they knew when Rachel was busy not to disturb her. They were aware of the rules and they knew how much they could push their mom before she just sent them to their room. Even she had her limits.

"Come on guys, let's go." Even if Tony was old enough to stay home by himself, she still took him with her. As far as she was concerned, he was still a minor until he turned eighteen. "Ally, Tony come on. Oh, one of you do me a favor and write your uncle a note to meet us for dinner if he has no plans. Where do you guys want to eat?"

"Can we have Chinese food?" screamed the twins. They were fond of chow mien and pot stickers, but of all they loved reading the fortune in the fortune cookies. They all agreed. Tony liked all types of food and Ally did too with the exception of spicy food.

Quinn was waiting for Rachel at the door. She knew Rachel would be on time that was why she didn't bother calling her cell phone when it was 10 minutes past five. She was sure she would have called if she couldn't complete her assignmet. She also knew she was pushing her hard the last couple of months, but she knew she was trustworthy and reliable.

She couldn't afford hiring someone new to the business and new to the demands of a magazine deadline. This was a bi-weekly magazine and usually everything was due yesterday. She saw them drive up and waived. The city waas horrible with parking spaces, so she just walked over to their van when she pulled into the loading zone.

"Hi, Quinn. We got caught in traffic."

"Don't worry about it Rach. I'm just glad you were able to finish them. You were able to finish them right?" she asked a little worried.

"Of course Quinn. Ally would you please hand your godmother her pictures."

"Thank you sweetheart, you know you're mom is the best right."

"Aunty Quinn, you trying to sweet talk mom into something aren't you?" Ally was wise to her ways. They've known her too long. Quinn even shared Christmas and Thanksgiving when she didn't visit her family back in Lima.

They even welcomed her partner with open arms. They were there for her during her low times and she was in turn were there for them. She was beautiful, with long wavy blonde hair. no one would ever guess she was gay until they start talking to her. But she was a very good editor and very easy to work with. She was like a mentor for Rachel.

"Well, I do have a little assignment for you tomorrow, so if you could stop by after you drop off the twins at school."

"Quinn, you do know tomorrow is supposed to be a day off from you right?" Fridays are always used as catch up days for her writing; she has known that for as long as she's been writing.

"I know, but you know I am short staffed, please." She pleaded and gave her the sad puppy dogface. Rachel couldn't say no, she never could say no to her.

"Oh, alright you big baby. When are you going to hire some people so that you don't keep working me like a dog?" she joked.

"When I find someone I can trust!" he answered with disgust. She was pleased that Quinn could trust her, but then again she never gave her a reason for her not to.

"So, you want to come to dinner with us?"

"I'll have to take a rain check, sweetheart. Gotta have the boss' pictures placed correctly. You know this was the first time she's ever agreed to have her pictures posted on her own magazine. I'm so excited." Quinn said clapping her hands excitedly.

"So don't mess it up," Rachel joked.

"Oh, bite your tongue missy." Quinn answered making Rachel laughed at her.

"Okay, Quinn I'll see you tomorrow. Say bye to Quinn kids."

"Bye aunty Quinn," they responded in unison.

**A/N : Okay, enjoy the update! And thank you for your kind reviews. Piece and Love, Signed out-**


	5. Cupids

_**Summary : Rachel lost her husband and never once thought about love. She was busy with her four kids and lived with memory of her love, until she bumps into Santana. Santana is a self-made billionaire who'd been unlucky in love until**__ she met Rachel._

The day started early for Rachel, but instead of putting her long, black tresses up like she did everyday, she decided to just leave it down. Besides, she jst got out of the shower and did not have time to blow dry. She had a lot of things to do and thanks to Quinn she had less time to work on her next book. She knew that Quinn wouldn't ask for her help if she didn't really need it.

She rushed the twins up to get them to school on time and as usual they complained about their clothes and why the had to brush their teeth and eat breakfast. Rachel was not in the mood today and she told them so.

"You know, I don't really want to argue with you this morning, so if you two will not stop this instance, you are grounded the whole weeked. No playing in the park, no TV, and no allowance for the week." That stopped the complaints immediately. The twins finished their breakfast and brushed their teeth.

Rachel didn't like using the MOTHER power at all, but she did have her limits. Mothers were allowed to have their off days; they're only human after all. On other days she would have indulged them in their complaints and gave them some kind of explanation. And even if they'd heard the explanation a million times before, they would ask the same question over and over. It was just the nature of the kids, and Rachel had always encouraged them to ask question when they did not understand something.

"Mom, are you feeling okay today?" Jay asks as they drive to their school. It was his turn to sit in the front.

"Yes, honey, why do you ask?"

"Well, you didn't fix your hair and you are wearing what you call your grunge clothes."

She was wearing black leggings, hiking boots and her mid-drift sweatshirt. For her age, her body was well toned. She still had a slight six-pack on her abdomen and nice shapely buttocks. She had taken good care of her body with diet and exercise and it showed.

"You know very well that mommy's hair does not dry very fast that's why I left it down. And today is Friday and this is what I usually wear anyway because I get to stay home."

"Yeah, but aren't you going to see aunty Quinn today for an assignment?" added Kay.

"Yes, but it's Friday, people usually dress down in the offices anyway. I think I will be okay. Don't worry about me. Okay."

"Promise you feel okay?" Jay persisted as they arrived at the school.

"Yeah, I am fine. I promise. Now give me a kiss, okay." Rachel said as they got out of the car.

"I love you." Jay said as he kissed her.

"I love you too, baby."

"I love you." Kay said as she kissed her.

"I love you too, baby. Now you two have a wonderful day." She waives to them as they walk away. She certainly couldn't tell them she didn't get much sleep last night they would ask why and she couldn't tell them that she had a dream about a certain latina.

She dreamt that they were walking on the beach hand in hand while the kids were swimming in the ocean. Jay and Kay called out to her and when she turned around, it was Santana she was holding hands with. This scared her and she suddenly woke up, then couldn't go back to sleep. She spent the rest of the night analyzing what her dream meant. Especially because she just met her the day before. She couldn't even wake Blaine up to tell him about the dream, she didn't know how to explain to him. She needed to figure it out on her own before she could tell anyone.

"Ah, there you are." Exclaimed Quinn as Rachel walked into her office.

"Why, you thought I wasn't going to show up?" Rachel joked. "Now when have I ever let you down?"

"Never."

"Well, then there you go. So what do you have for me today? Local hero? Restaurant?"

"Actully, Santana wants to see the proofs and which picture will be presented with the article."

Rachel was excited, but at the same time frightened especially with the dream she had last night. She didn't know how she could face Santana without blushing. A stranger had never invaded her dreams before, to her Santana was still very much a stranger. She'd had dreams about celebrities when she was younger and she's had dreams of Charlie after he died, but someone else never replaced Charles's face.

"Come on Quinn, couldn't you have someone else to do that? You know I don't do that sort of thing," she pleaded.

"You know I am short staffed, the other photographers I do have are already out on assignments," lied Quinn.

Santana had personally called her the night before to have Rachel deliver the photos in person. Quinn never thought of Santana being interested in her long time friend. She guessed since her sexual orientation was different, she never really thought of Rachel in a different sort of way.

Santana was a good friend as well, and then it hit her. Why didn't sh think of it sooner? She'd been playing cupid with everyone else, why not Santana? Why not Rachel? They're two closes people she had as family in the city and God knew they have been through their shares of disappointments and pain. Quinn decided to go along with Santana's plan, but she won't tell Santana what she thought just yet.

"Couldn't you send one of your assistants?" Rachel whined. Quinn had rarely seen Rachel whine and she was getting a feeling that she was hiding something. Then she decided to probe.

"Why? Is there something you'd like to share with me? Did something happen yesterday?" She knew Rachel did not like talking much about affairs of the heart, that way Rachel would deny it and go on her merry way. Plan executed.

"No," Rachel blusehd slightly but she wasn't about to tell Quinn about her dream or what she felt when she was around Santana yesterday. Rachel knew too well about Quinn cupid ways, she wasn't about to let Quinn do that to her. "Oh, for goodness sakes. Give me the pictures!"

"Do I sense a smidgen touch of anger in your voice?" Quinn joked.

"Don't push it Quinn, you know this is going beyond my assignments for this week. Do you have anything else for me?"

"No, that will be all. Have a great time." The comment piqued Rachel's attention.

"Is there something you're not telling me?"

"Who moi? You know I tell you everything."

"Uh-uh," Rachel snorted. "I'll see you later. I guess she's expecting this now?"

"As soon as you can. Her assistant said she would be in a meeting until 10, so I guess you can go there after ten."

"Great, I think I will go to the cafe and start writing. Wanna join me for a little while and have breakfast?" Wuinn wouldn't care. She knew she would probably slip up and her plans would just go out the door.

"Rain check again, honey. Have to keep the show running you know." It sounded like a logical excuse that time around.

"Okay, I guess you want this back this afternoon or whatever pictures Santna, I mean Ms. Lopez chooses right?" Quinn caught the slip up, it sounded as if they were on a first name basis already. She did miss something yesterday. Santana didn't tell him much even when she asked why. Santana just said she wanted the Photographer that shot the pictures to show her the proofs and photos. It didn't dawn on her until this morning about Santana's hidded intentions.

"Yes, please. I understand today was supposedly your day off from me, so I do owe you one. And, you can just drop off proofs with the picture she chooses and I will have someone else print it here."

"Okay, I'll see you later."

"Thanks, Rach. I do owe you one."

"Yeah, you just remember that when I collect." She joked. Rachel walked out and decided to walk to the cafe. It was a beautiful day. It was clear except for some patchy fog that the news said would burn off before noon. She had her long sweater on top of her sweatshirt, but she still felt cold because her hair was still a little damp. Mocha cafe latte would be great. It might help her feel a little warmer and maybe she could jot down some notes for the next book. Her publisher gave her a month to finish that one. Her publisher had been very understand of her schedule and had been giving her lenient deadlines, but not that time. It seemed the public's demand for the next adventure of Timmy and Tammy rose since the last publication. She didn't mind, but if Quinn kept working her as she had, she might not make her deadline.

She pushed that thought aside and tried to dream up an idea for the next book. She was finding it hard to concentrate. Her dream kept creeping back into her thoughts. The cafe was as busy as every, especially since it was Friday and people like to relax more. The noise didn't help her concentration any better.

She decided to start walking towards Santana's office. Maybe it will give her more time to calm down about the dream. It was only a dream after all. And since she was not able to exercise yesterday, she thought the walk would do her good. It's only about two miles from the cafe anyway. Besides the coffe did not help much, she still felt a little cold. Maybe the walk would also help warm her up a bit.

When she walked in Kurt greeted her with a big smile. Rachel returned the smile and started to walk towards him ask if Santana was back from her meeting.

"Go right in," Kurt interrupted her thought. "She's expecting you." That surprised Rachel even more. But thought nothing of it. Quinn must have told her that she was delivering the proofs and photos.

"Thanks," was all she could say and opened the door to her office.

"Hi," Rachel said timidly. Santana's office was a little brighter than yesterday. She opened the blinds and few more of her lamps.

Santana looked up and her mouth practically dropped open. She didn't think Rachel could look any more beautiful that she already did, but today with her hair down and her curls just flowing freely, she looked heavenly. Santana smiled at her.

Rachel became warm all over again. She started blusing. Her ears, cheeks and nose that were already red from the cold, became red with the heat. She had to remove the sweater she was wearing to remove some of the heat that she was already feeling. That didn't help Santana a bit. She got more turned on with the tight fitting pants she had on.

"I have proofs. You said you wanted to see them. Do you have time now or should I come back a little later." This comment woke Santana up from her lusty state. Rachel didn't notice the way Santana was looking at her because she was too caught up with how she was feeling when Santana smiled at her.

"No," she objected almost with a scream. "I mean, I would like to see them now. I might as well get it over with." Santana tried to cover up her initial behavior. "I might as well take a look to see which picture would not scare the public too much." She joked. As if that face could ever scare the public, Rachel thought.

"So do you want to use that table?" Rachel pointed at the small round meeting table by the window. There was no way she was going near her desk. That was her personal space, she might blush more than she already was. Focus! This was part of the job. But none of her photo subjects ever gave her butterflies in her stomach or made her knee feel like they are about to unbuckle. They didn't make her blush as red as a tomato.

"That's fine."

Rachel took the proofs out and the viewer eyepiece to be able to see the proofs clearly. She also took out the photo she had enlarged. She laid them all on the table and handed her the eyepiece.

"Okay, here they are. Take a look at them and let me know which one you would prefer the public to see. I suggested this one." Rachel pointed to the photo she had enlarged. "But, it's your call."

Santana saw the first picture she took when she had just turned on the lights. She looked as if she was undressing her with her eyes, well she was in a way. She wondered if Rachel noticed that picture. She hoped not. She saw the picture where she was looking down on the floor while she was walking back towards her desk.

"What about this one?" Santana asked and handed her the eyepiece. Rachel put her hair on the side and leaned forward to take a look at what Santana thought she would like to put on the magazine. Santana could smell her hair. It smelled tropical and sweet but she could tell she was not wearing any perfume. Santana wanted to run her fingers through Rachel hair.

"You're kidding right!" Rachel was appalled. She turned up and looked at Santana. She almost hit her hand that was inches from touching her hair.

"Yes, I just wanted to see how you would re-act." Santana smiled. There goes that smile again.

They were interrupted by the intercom buzz. She didn't want to answer Kurt. She was enjoying her time alone with Rachel, but duty call. She reluctantly walked over to her desk.

"Yes, Kurt."

"Penelope is here, do you want me to send her in. She has a surprise for you."

"Oh, okay." Santana didn't want to be interrupted, but she couldn't turn her away. She would not appreaciate it and she would barge in and give her a piece of her mind anyway.

Rachel was a little disappointed that it was a woman. And she had a surprise. She almost felt a little jealous.

Penelope walked in pushing a stroller and Rachel felt a lump in her throat. Santana had a child with this woman? She had long dark hair and was a little shorter than Santana. She was beautiful, confident and looked quite wealthy. Santana walked over to meet her and Penelope have her a kiss on the cheek.

"You busy?" Penelope asked and then she noticed Rachel standing over by the window. She gave Santana the "I guess you are" look.

"Not too busy to visit with my big sister." Santana lied. She knew that if she even hinted that she was Penelope would draw a conclusion about her interest with Rachel, which would be correct, but she knew her sister well. If she knew that she was intereted in a woman romatically, she would interrogate her like she was some kind of convict and might scare her away.

Santana didn't want to scare Rachel away. She would only put a woman through her sister's interrogations if she weren't really interested. She walked her over to where Rachel was standing.

"Rachel this is my sister Penelope. Penny this is Rachel. She works for Quinn part time as a photographer."

"I am pleased to meet you," Rachel said with a sigh of relief. "And who is this little one?"

"Oh, yeah I almost forgot. This is Angelica." Penelope bent over to pick her up. "San, this is the news member of the family. She was born 2 weeks ago and since you were too busy to go over to the hospital this time or to the house, I thought I'd bring her here." She handed her to Santana and she held her like an expert. "Angelica, meet your great Aunty Santana." Angel was sleeping and did not fuss in her arms. She was used to it. She'd gone through a dozen nieces and nephews, almost a dozen great nieces and great nephews, but never her own.

"Hello, estrella," she said softly. "It's nice to finally see you. I'm sorry I haven't visited. I'll make it up to you okay." As if she understood, Angel smiled in her sleep.

Rachel was enjoying this part of Santana. She would havenever believed in a million years that this woman who made difficult business deals with the most difficults people would be so sensitive to children. She missed holding a baby.

"Can I hold her?" Rachel asked.

"Sure," Santana handed her to Rachel. She was able to feel parts of Rachel bodies that sent some sparks down her spine. She had to move away quickly or else Penny will see how much she was enjoying this interaction.

"She's so cute, I haven't held a baby for a long time now. This is really weird."

"So, you have children?" asked Penny very intrigued. She did not miss Santana's reaction to the exchange. She was like a schoolboy with Rachel.

"Oh, yes." Rachel answered excitedly. It was a normal reaction when it came to talking about her children. "I have four of my own. But my youngest are six years old."

"You said are. Do you mean you have twins?" Santana was just watching and listen to the two women. She was amazed at how well they were hitting it off. She liked that. She liked that a lot.

"Oh yes. Jay and Kay. My elders, Tony, is graduating from hig school this year and ally will be a Sophomore in the next coming school year."

Penelope watched her eyes twinlked as she talked about her kids. if Santana was remotely interested in this woman and if she's available, she thought, Santana'd bbetter act fast. A woman like that does not come around her very often. Santana needed someone like her in her life.

Santana was finally tired of being left out in their conversation. She'd better do something fast because she could feel Penny's eyes staring at her ogling at Rachel.

"Sorry to interrupt you two, but we're supposed to be picking out a picture for the article." She averted looking at her sister.

"Oh, yeah. Penelope, I hope you don't mind if I call you Penelope."

"No not at all."

"Would you mind helping us out? You will be the deciding vote about her picture. The proofs are on the table and the one picture that was what I suggested. Do you mind looking at the proofs while I play with little Angelica?" She had just awakened.

Penelope always the doting grandma would have never trusted a complete stranger with her grandkids, but Rachel was special. She could tell. Angelica would have cried had she felt uncomfortable with her.

"Hi there, baby." She was playing with her. She just left Santana with Penelope by the table and walked closer to the window. She was glad Angel and Penelope came by. It gave her reprieve from being alone and anxious with Santana. She kept on her conversation with the baby. She was actually telling her one of the stories she'd aready written. Penelope recognized it.

"Do you read the Timmy and Tammy books too?" she asked while looking at the proofs.

"Oh, I didn't tell you." Santna started. "You actually just met your favorite children's book author. Rachel berry."

"No!" Now Penelope was really excited. "You didn't tell me I am in the same room with the person who has been helping me with my grandkids!" Rachel turned around and smiled. Penelope socked Santana on the arm.

"Well, it wasn't the reason she was here," she tried to defend herself. Penelope gave her the "I'll kill you for that" look. They started bickering back and forth. Angelica interrupted them with a cry.

"I think she's hungry," Rachel explained. She didn't want to tell them that she was probaby upset from their bickering. But, she did enjoy seeing a different side to Santana. She saw the playful child in her and almost laughed because it reminded her of the way she and Blaine bicker with each other over little things.

"Oh, I'm sorry." Penelope apologized. "Let me get her milk, it's an honor to meet you. Did Santana tell you I have every single one of your books?" "

Now, she was acting like a star sstrcuk teenager." Santana muttered under her breath.

"Yes, I think he mentioned it yesterday."

"Oh, here let me have her. You must be tired."

"No problem. I enjoy it. It's been a while since I did this sort of thing." Penelope handed her the bottle. She wasn't about to disagree with a celebrity.

"I hope you don't mind if I indulge in asking you a bunch of questions."

"No, not at all as long as you help Santana pick out a picture so that I can bring it back to Quinn before the end of today."

"Deal, why don't I help Santana with the picture first while you feeld Angelica." She was so excited. She gets to her favorite writer of children's books. She walked back to the pictures on the table. She noticed that Santana was daydreaming. Penny gave her a little sock on the arm to get her out of her trance.

"I'm a little hungry," she hinted a low voice. "Maybe, I am not the only one." She pointed her eyebrows towards Rachel. She got the hint.

"Why don't I order us some lunch? What would you like sis?"

"I'm busy, why don't you bother Rachel first."

Penny had seen right through her already. Forget trying to hide her feelings. She knew Santana was definitely interested in Rachel and she had no way to deny it from her sister. They'd always had a close relationship. They're the closest in age and she seemed to have been the only one who could understand her.

Penelope was the one Santana could share her secrets with and trust that the whole world would not find out. Santana could tell her things that she was afraid to tell her parents and they would always work things out together. She was basically her other mother and when they were younger they would make mischief together.

Her older brother and sister were also close to her, but not as close as her big sister. Things changed a little when their little brother was born, but not too much. The three of them became the Three Musketeers. They shared a bond that was as strong as if they were triplets. She knew better than to deny her feelings in front of her sister. But she knew that she could trust her with her secret and that she would not overy embarrass her in Rachel's presence.

Santana walked slowly over to where Rachel was sitting on the couch.

"What would you like to eat?" Santana whispered near her ears.

She loved the smell of the smaller woman hair. rachel turned slowly to shush her and found her smiling face right in front of hers. Rachel didn't know why she made her react so intensely, she had to find a way to focus! But then she saw the flirtatious twinkle in Santana's eyes and lost all concetration. She sat there in front of Santana's face in a panic. Rachel didn't know whether to kiss her or slap her, but she had to do something.

Rachel remembered she was still holding Angelica so she could not slap her, and she definitely did not want to kiss her with someone else in the room. The room was shrinking around her. She couldn't remember what Santana asked her.

Santana was also affected. She didn't know whether to just kiss Rachel or laugh because she could tell that she was making Rachel feel something. They stared into each other's eyes for almost a minute wondering what they should do.

Penelope was just watching the chemmistry between the two. She was hoping she wasn't married and least open for her sister, because this was the first time Santana was ever so enchanted by someone. She didn't remember any other woman who had walked in and out of her life that ever affected her the way Rachel was doing at that moment. She was sure that Rachel was the one she'd been searching for all her life. Now the trick was keeping her in Santana's life.

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**Sorry for the mistaken grammar, will fix them as soon as possible.**

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	6. Surprise Lunch

_**Summary : Rachel lost her husband and never once thought about love. She was busy with her four kids and lived with memory of her love, until she bumps into Santana. Santana is a self-made billionaire who'd been unlucky in love until**__**she met Rachel.**_

Chapter 6 : Surprise Lunch

"What did you say?" Rachel finally whispered back to her.

The sweet smell of her breath on Santana's face almost made Santana lose her control. She smiled instead and Rachel looked away and pretended to fix the baby's bottle. Rachel didn't want her to see what Santana's smile did to her.

"I asked what you wanted to eat. It's almost lunch time and since I don't think Penelope will be done anytime soon, I'm going to order lunch for the three of us."

Rachel was relieved that Penelope was going to be there. She didn't think she could handle being alone with Santana.

Penelope was just taking her time with her decision. She already decided she liked the one where Santana was smiling, the same picture Rachel chose, but she wanted to keep her there longer. She was enjoying watching the two of them hide their feelings from each other; it was like watching some kind of soap opera.

"Oh, well maybe I should go and come back for the pictures later? You and your sister probably want to spend some time alone."

'Are you kidding!' he wanted to scream. He was panicking. Fortunately, Penelope heard her.

"Nonsense," she practically screamed from where she was standing. "Santana owes us lunch for putting us through this horrific taks of looking at her ugly pictures," she joked.

The statement earmed a smile from Rachel. Rachel liked Penelope. She's very down to earth and up front. She was playful as well and these traits are hard to find in people nowadays. People were either too serious, pretentious or too playful. Penelope had a nice balance in her personality and was not pretentious at all.

"Hey, I recent that," Santana halfheartedly interjected. She was more worried that Rachel would refuse the lunch invitation and leave. She wanted to keep her near her forever, but she knew that Rachel had a life of her own so Santana would try to keep her close for as long as she can.

"Well, then since you are at fault," Rachel decided to play along with Penelope's comment, "maybe you should surprise us, as long as it's not Chinese. We had that last night." Rachel didn't feel like making a decision at that moment.

Penelope was a bit disappointed. Rachel had used the word 'we', she knew she had kids, but does the 'we' included a husband or partner. Penelope was all for romaticism and love, but not at the expense of breaking up a family. She had to somehow find out.

"Okay, I'll be back." Santana stepped out of the office.

"You can probably set her down now Rachel." Penelope commented.

"You're right. I just love holding babies, but I don't think I want to be a grandmother any time soon. My eldest is just seventeen and on his way to college." Rachel said.

"Really, that is great. You and your husband must be proud." Penelope decided to pry. She noticed that Rachel had a sad look in her eyes at the moment at the mention of her husband.

"My husband passed away five years ago." She answered openly.

"I'm sorry. I didn't know," Penelope answered with mixed feelings. She was sad for her, but happy for Santana. Santana did have a chance with her.

"That's okay. Anyway, you said you wanted to ask me some questions about the books." That changed their mood a little. Penelope was excited. But Santana walked back in.

"Okay ladies. Lunch will be delivered shortly."

"Great, we'll have time to chat a little about the books. Kurt care to join us?"

Santana was already sitting next to Rachel. Rachel was a little uncomfortable, but she decided to focus her attention to Penelope.

"Where did you find the ideas for your books?"

"Well, I have twins, Jay and Kay. I observed their playtime and decided to elaborate on it. I would try to get into their heads and write them down on paper. My little children's world was the best resource for my inspiration. Now that they are older, I am finding other ways to continue the series without letting Timmy and Tammy grow up."

Penelope was fascinated and Santana was trying to keep herself from touching Rachel hair, which was near her hands. She was enjoying being so close to her. She had a warm soothing feeling inside her that she had never felt before. She didn't feel nervous and she didn't feel lust. She just wanted to be near her and get to know everything about Rachel.

"How long have you been writing?"

"The Timmy and Tammy adventures were born about five years ago, but I had been writing part time while I was in research for the local paper."

Santana just sat there soaking the environment and Rachel's presence. It was as if she was giving her more life with every breath she breathed.

"Do you have another book coming out soon?"

"Actually, I am in the process of working on another. It probably won't be out for a month or so, but I'll remember to send you one of the first copies."

"Really, that's great. Would you sign it as well?"

"Sure. I'll give you my card so that you can give me a call to check or remind me." Rachel looked for her purse. She noticed that Santana was sitting right next to her purse. "Would you please hand me my purse," she asked politely. Santana gladly handed her the purse. "Thanks." She retrieved her business card holder and took one out and handed it to Penelope. Santana made a note to herself to ask Penelope for a copy of the card. But before she could, Rachel was already handing her one of her cards. Rachel didn't know why. She excused the act as not wanting to be rude in giving just one person her card. Santana opened her wallet and put her card in right next to her other card which was the very first card visible when she opened her wallet. Penelope put the card in her wallet as well and then remembered she had one of her books with her.

"Do you mind signing the book I have with me?"

"No, of course not." Rachel was generous with her autographs, she figured these people are the ones paying her salary, so why would she turn them away.

Penelope handed her the little book. She was digging in her big purse for a pen, but Santana handed her a pen. Rachel signed the book, 'To Penelope and Angelica, May reading always bring you joy. Love, Rachel Berry.' Penelope was ecstatic.

"Thank you."

"Rachie, I think you've just made my sister one of the happiest woman alive." Santana joked.

"Oh, hush San, you're just jealous." Penelope retorted. Before Santana can answer Kurt buzzed in.

"Yes, Kurt," she answered instead.

"Lunch is here."

"Thanks, you want to come join us inside?" She had bought lunch for the four of them.

"Okay,"

"Why don't you come in and show the delivery person in." Kurt opened the door and the delivery man walked in with a cart. On the cart were four silver covers. Rachel was surprised and impressed. She was expecting some sandwiches and soda.

"Where would you like me to set the table ma'am?" asked the deliveryman.

"Why don't you set it up over there." Santana pointed at the round table and then hurried to remove the pictures.

She set the pictures on her desk and helped the man. She pulled four chairs around the table while the man covered the table with a while table cloth. She set the four covered meals and the drinks on the table. She remembered to order Rachel her water bottle and some sodas just in case. She ordered red wine for Penelope. The other three just stood there and watched.

"Guys," Santana signaled them to the table. Penelope, Rachel and Kurt walked over to the table. Santana pulled out the chair for Rachel and Kurt pulled out the chair for Penelope. Santana went to her seat and the deliveryman then uncovered the meal.

That surprised Rachel even more. On their plates she found, a lobster tail, a piece of steak cooked well done and some shrimp scampi with vegetables and baked potatoes. Santana knew the way she liked her steak and the way her sister and Kurt liked their steak, she guessed with Rachel and hoped that she guessed right.

The deliveryman then brough the steak sauce out along with the butter and sour cream for their potatoes. Santana was enjoying the surprised look on Rachel face. She was glad that she really did surprise her as Rachel had indicated earlier.

"Enjoy you lunch folks," the deliveryman commented. "If you should need anything, I will be outside the door."

"Thank you," Santana answered. "Come on, let's eat."

"Well, Santana. You outdid yourself this time," Penelope commented. "When Rachel said surprise us, I thought you were going to really surprise us with some pizza or something. I'm impressed little sister."

Rachel kept quiet. She was surprised and she thought the same thing that Penelope was thinking. Kurt knew what they were having since he was outside when Santana called the order in. The rest of the meal was a little quiet. They didn't realize how hungry they were until they started eating.

"Does anyone care for dessert?" asked Santana. The three all shook their heads. "Are you sure? It's fat free and has almonds in it." That piqued their attention.

Santana walked over to the door and asked the man for somethiing. The man walked in with Santana and bent over to retrieve at item on the bottom shelf of the cart. He came out with French Vanilla ice cream with caramel swirls and almonds.

That was Rachel's favorite. How did she know? Fat free or not she would eat it. "Now, does anyone want dessert," she teased.

"You're incorrigible," retorted Rachel. "You picked the only dessert I would not have said no to." Santana was surprised and very proud that she's made two decisions today about her that were dead on.

"Well, thank you," she teased some more. "Penelope, Kurt, care to join us?"

"That's it for me, thanks," answered Penelope. "Unlike you who can eat anything and not gain weight, I do. So fat free or not, I have to say no. But I will have some coffee."

"I'll get you some." Volunteered Kurt.

"Oh please, I can get my own. You have some ice cream."

"Kurt?" Santana asked.

"Oh, okay. You talked me into it." The man gave them two scoops each and then Santana instructed him to clean up the table. Santana went to sit on the couch, Rachel and Kurt followed. Kurt sat on the chair and Rachel was forced to sit next to Santana again. Santana could not have planned it better even if she did.

"So, did you make up your mind yet on which picture you want printed?" Rachel asked.

"Yes, I'll show you after dessert." She said.

"So Kurt, how's Sugar?" She asked.

"She's great. Your goddaughter is always getting into mischief though." He answered, Kurt had adopted a kid and personally asked Santana to be the godmother of his child.

"Like her godmother when she was younger," added Penelope who was joining them back from getting some coffee. Santana was about to get up to give her a seat. "Oh don't bother, I need to check the baby."

"So, Santana was a mischievous child?" asked Rachel. She looked at Santana and she smiled that angelic smile that Santana loved so much. Santana's heart skipped a beat every time she smile.

Santana thought she should be used to it by now. She looked like a child who was up to mischief. Kurt wasn't going to get in between this one.

"Oh, yeah. She would get into a lot of situations I had to bail her out off." Penelope said.

"Excuse me," Santana interjected. "I think it was you got me into a lot of situation that was why you had to bail me out."

"Oh, here they go again." Kurt said."Okay, I think I'm going back to my desk now." He said as he waived at Rachel. He was used to their bickering. He loved it. He was an only child so he could only imagine bickering with a sibling.

Santana became quiet, she felt so comfortable with Rachel that she had not noticed her childlike trait coming out. Penelope always seemed to bring it out of her. Rachel just sat smiling at her while Penelope continued to fuss with the baby and tell her story.

"There was one time she wanted to play Santa so she climbed the roof to try slide down the chimney. I think she was about six at that time. The ladder was already set up because papi was setting up the Christmas lights so she got up on the roof then once she got up there she looked down and was scared to death. She started screaming for someone to help her." Penelope went on.

Penelope loved telling this story not to embarrass her, but to share her past. Santana knew better than to interrupt Penelope when she was telling the story. If she interrupted, she would get her back by telling Rachel one of her embarrassing moment.

Penelope continued, "I think mami was getting dinner ready and papi was trying to set the tree up. They told me to watch her, but as usual she snuck out on me. I finally realized she was gone and started looking for her. She liked to play hide and seek. Then I heard her screaming. She was afraid to go back down. I ran inside to get papi. He went up and got her down. We both got grounded for a week."

"You're enjoying this, aren't you," Santana asked Rachel. Rachel just smiled at her again, but Santana could see how much Rachel was enjoying the story.

"I'm just trying to finish my ice cream." Rachel finally told her.

"Oh, I think we'd better get going. The others will be home soon, and I gotta get their snacks ready."

"But you haven't shown me which picture you liked." Rachel didn't want to be alone with Santana.

"Oh, the same one you picked, dear." Penelope got her things ready. She went over to Rachel and gave her a hug. "It was a real pleasure meeting you. I hope to see you again soon."

"It was a pleasure meeting you as well. We'll have get together again and maybe you can give me ideas for the next books." Rachel said. This made Penelope even more excited. Rachel leaned over and gave Angelica a little peck on the forehead.

"Oh, definitely. I will give you a call. Bye honey." She told Santana. "You take care and come visit soon. Thanks for lunch."

"Do you need help outside?" Santana asked.

"No, I'm okay." Penelope hugged San and gave her a kiss on her cheek. Santana leaned over and told Angelica goodbye. Rachel just sat on the couch trying to finish her ice cream fast so she could leave too.

Santana walked Penelope to the door. She hugged her again and then whispered in Santana's ear, "she's a keeper. Don't you dare lose her." Penelope smiled at her and she smiled back her mischievous smile. Penelope knew there was no way Santana would lose her. Santana closed the door and walked back to the couch.

"So, how's the ice cream,"

"Great, I love this flavor. What about your picture?"

"Why don't you finish your ice cream and I'll go get the pictures." Santana was walking towards her desk before Rachel could get any word out. She was trying to think of ways to keep her there longer, but she knew she could not. Penelope brought up the kids getting home. Santana knew that Rachel have to pick up her kids soon too.

That's okay she did give her a card. Santana could call her some other time. She could ask her on an official date. She went back to where she was sitting and set the pictures on the coffee table. Santana noticed she was done with her ice cream. "I think the one you chose was the best choice. I hope I didn't waste too much of your time," Santana lied.

"No not at all," she lied, but not completely. "I had a great time. Your sister was wonderful and lunch was great. Thank you. Where do I put my bowl?"

"Oh, just put it on the table. I'll have the deliveryman pick it up." Santana wanted so much to ask her to dinner tonight, but she knew that asking her would involve some kind of appointment. She knew she had to let her leave. Rachel started to gather the proofs and the pictures. She put it back in the envelope and back into her purse.

"I guess I'd better get going too. I have to give this back to Quinn and pick up the twins."

"Okay." They stood facing each other. Santana wanted so much to just grab her and kiss her.

She wanted Santana to kiss her, but then remembered her dreams and was frightened. She decided to put her hand up to shake Santana's hands. Santana took her hand gently and shook it. Santana hesitated to let her hand go, but she knew she had no choice.

Rachel's stomach was doing a number on her. It started getting queasy and she was feeling her control leaving her. If she didn't leave the office she might do something she may regret like actually kissing those full lips. Rachel walked towards the door. Santana followed her and opened the door for her. "Thanks," Rachel said almost in a whisper. Santana could not say anything. Her heart was just aching too much to see her go not knowing when she will see her again.

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	7. A Term

_**Summary : Rachel lost her husband and never once thought about love. She was busy with her four kids and lived with memory of her love, until she bumps into Santana. Santana is a self-made billionaire who'd been unlucky in love until**__**she met Rachel.**_

"You know, she's been leaving you messages at least once a day," Blaine explained. "Why don't you at least talk to her on the phone."

"Because I am trying to forget her," she insisted.

"Well, is it working?" he asked.

"Not really, and it doesn't that he leaves me nice messages. It would probably be better if she said something that would make me mad at her, but she doesn't."

"I think she's really sincere about wanting to get to know you, why don't you give her a chance?"

"Blaine, you are not helping. I am scared to death of getting into another relationship, especially with what happened to Charlie. I don't think I want to love anyone again because I mught just end up losing them."

"It didn't make sense. You love me. You love your kids. why can't you love Santana?"

"Because you are my brother. My kids are my kids. she's not related to me, I can choose not to deal with her."

"Look at you. It's almost midnight and you're still up arguing with me about someone you don't want to deal with. The kids are in bed, you have an early day tomorrow and you can't sleep. Now tell me, doesn't that sound like you are having a little trouble trying not to deal with this woman."

"I don't want to go through anything like what I went through with Charles. It took me a while to get over losing him. What if things don't work out with Santana? What if I end up losing her in a wild car accident? I don't think I can handle it." She explained.

"Well, honey, you are not doing too well trying to forget this girl. It's going to eat you up inside if you don't confront whatever you are afraid of. I should be the one afraid of getting into a relationship. Remember my last one did not end up in a very good way. You didn't have a choice with the way yours ended. I think I could have prevented what happened to me if I would have listened to you and everybody else."

"You know that wasn't your fault. You probably did everything right. He just couldn't handle you being gone most of the time. Maybe you should think of getting a different job.

"And do what? I love my job Rach. You used to love doing the same job before you lost Charles. It was hard on the kids and on Charles that you would be gone a lot, but at least he dealt with it since he was a doctor and was being called to the hospital a lot too. You've made up the lost time with your kids and now you have a normal job that doesn't take you away from them often. Why don't you give yourself another chance? You deserve another stab at happiness. You've been working hard trying to keep your kids happy, when are you going to give yourself some happiness?"

"Oh, Blaine. I wish it were that easy. I don't feel like I deserve anything. I am afraid that I will be betraying Charles and the kids. i told you about my dream didn't I?"

"The way I look at it, I think Charlie was trying to tell you to move on." Rachel didn't want to accept her brother's interpretation. She didn't want to lay her heart out on the line again. But hard as she tried to forget Santana, she kept creeping up in her thoughts and in her dreams.

"I don't know. You'd better get to bed. I need to get to sleep too." She gave Blaine a hug and a kiss and left the couch where they'd been sitting for an hour or so talking about Santana's phone messages, and e-mails. All the lights were off except for the nightlight that glowed in the darkness of the night and the light of the moon that illuminated the rooms through the window.

She had been ignoring Santana's phone messages for almost a week and a half, but she still didn't give up. Santana had even left notes for Quinn to give to her, but Rachel had told Quinn she needed to get some time off to finish her book. She hadn't even seen Quinn but had to talked to her and Quinn told her about the notes.

The last encouter they had left her shaken. She couldn't forget the look in Santana's eyes whe she left that Friday after she bought Kurt, Penelope and Rachel herself a grand lnch. Her eyes were filled with intense passion. Something Rachel'd never seen before from anyone, not even her late husband. Rachel could not forget her smile as well.

Every time she closed her eyes she saw her smile. Every time she went to sleep she dreamt of her. Santana seemed to be everywhere and nothing she'd done had shaken her intense feelings for Santana: not even trying to ignore her phone calls or avoiding seeing her.

Rachel finally decided to call Quinn for a project. She was almost done with the book and she needed a little more distraction. Maybe working more and keeping busier than she already was would solve her problem. She called Quinn and left a message. She didn't think Santana would be there, but knew that Quinn would get the message when she got in first thing in the morning. She then decided to go to bed. She felt so tired trying to think of ways to avoid Santana and to get her out of her mind, she finally gave in to sleep.

Quinn called her early the next day. She indeed had an assignment for her. She'd been waiting to hear from Rachel for the past week and a half. Quinn respected her privacy when she asked for time off from her assignments, so she never called her to send her on an assignment, only to check on her and to inform her of the notes from Santana. She didn't call her for assignments until Rachel called her. Rachel was so happy to hear her voice.

Rachel was supposed to take a picture of downtown financial district. They were running a piece of growth of the financial district. They had old pictures that were taken about 30 years ago and they wanted the present day photographs for comparison. Rachel went downtown after dropping the twins off to school. She decided to park her car in the Union Square parking garage and decided to walk the rest of the way.

The fog was still a little low, but she decided to take some pictures with the fog and will wait a little until the fog lifted before taking her second sets of pictures. She decided to go shopping while she waited. She walked back to Union Square. She went inside fashion store and checked to see if they had a sale on children's clothes.

She wanted to prepare for summer. The twins had outgrown their shorts and shirts and so had Tony and Ally. They seemed to have grown two inches since winter. Ally definitely would not fit her clothes and she didn't really have the option of borrowing her mom's clothes since she'd grown taller than her.

Tony who stood 6 feet 3 inches have grown more muscles that made his old shorts tight. She wondered how her kids grew so fast. She was still amazed at how the little babies she used to hold in her arms were so much bigger than her. The twins had a long way to go yet, but they would probably be tall as well. She browsed through the children's clothes first.

The store was not really busy. There were hardly any people during the weekedays, which was what she preffered. She didn't like fighting to get through one department to another that was why she avoided Christmas shopping as much as she could. She spotted an outfit that she was sure they would like. The twins were both into jeans. They would love the blue jean shorts with a matching shirt. They had a boy version and a girl version. Sometimes it was difficult to shop for them because stores didn't always have a boy and girl version for an outfit and they were still at a stage where they wanted to dress exactly the same. Sometimes she just ended up buying boys clothes for Kaylen. For girls it didn't really matter if they wore boys' clithes or not since they look a like, but the boys didn't want to get caught wearing girls clothes.

She had to buy them, they were cute, practical and on sale. What mother can refuse that type of combination? She looked around some more and found two more pairs of shorts for the twins and a dress for Kaylen and some jeans for Jaylen. She went on to the juniors' section.

Ally was a little harder to buy clothes for, but she usually thought of the clothes she liked to borrow from her and go from there. After 30 minutes of walking around the juniors department she finally spotted an outfit she was sure Ally would like. She saw a khaki mini skirt with mini pockets on both sides and saw a baby blue knit shirt with "girl power" across the front. She absolutely adored those types of shirts, then she saw one that was just plain light maroon and thought she would get that instead. She saw more jeans shorts and a v-neck t-shirt to go with it.

Shopping had always gotten her mind off of problems that seemd to haunt her. It was thrapeutic for her, but bad for her financial outlook. She decided to walk into the men's department. She had to get something for Tony too, and since she was here she might as well look for something for Blaine.

The guys were easier to shop for. She would ust buy them one pair of jean shorts and a pair of the nylon shorts. She decided to get a couple of t-shirts for each of them and some extra shorts for Tony. She thought he needed the cotton print shorts for wearing around the house. With her arms full of clothing she walked towards the register. The cashier rang up her purchases and bagged them nicely.

After she walked out of the store and she realized that she was a bit hungry. She hadn't realized how long she took inside the store. She decided to drop her purchases off in the van along with her camera. She would only take some cash and walk up to the new Cafe near the parking lot. She had heard about it, but had not yet tried it.

There were two levels. The second level had a nice skylight that let the sun shine though. The first level was just extra space for dining, but the most interesting part was the entrance. It seemed to go through the garage space, go to the second level to order your food and either eat there, the first lever or take it to go. When she arrived, the place was not yet busy. She had arrived at the right time. She ordered her food and grabbed a small table at the corner of the room. She grabbed a newspaper to keep herself busy while she ate. She could not just sit and eat.

The place was getting brighter because the fog was starting to lift and a bit of sunshine was peering through. She decided to wait 10 more minutes before she would walk back to the garage and get her camera. The place was starting to get crowded and she felt guilty keeping the space when she was already finished eating. Besides, the din was not helping her with her reading. She was having a hard time blocking out other people's conversation, the noise in the kitchen, an occasional shout from the person behind the counter calling for people's order and giving the order to the cook. It was going crazy. There must be something wrong with her, she couldn't focus on the story she was reading. She decided to finally leave.

She picked up her garbage and dropped it off in the garbage on her way down. As she reached the bottom of the stairs to reach the first level, right in front of her in a table with a man and a women was Santana. Rachel looked straight at her and she looked straight at her. She wasn't wearing her usual working suit today. She was wearing a plain white t-shirt and blue jeans. She looked good on them, that didn't help her situation at all.

Rachel looked away and started walking faster towards the stairs that led down to the garage exit. Santana quickly wiped her mouth with her napkin and excused herself from the table. She went to the rails by the stairs and just as Rachel was about to reach the bottom of the stairs, Santana called out to her.

"Rachie!?" Rachel looked up and saw her face. She couldn't see Santana's eyes, but she could feel the anger and the hurt in the tone of her voice. "Please wait right there."

Rachel didn't know what to do. She felt like running away, but she felt immobilized. She knew she owed Santana some kind of explanation. But what would she say? She didn't really have a good excuse for ignoring her except that she didn't want to get hurt. She didn't even think of how Santana felt. Santana rushed down the stairs taking it two at a time. When she got to her, she didn't know whether to just take her into her arms or start yelling at her for not calling her back.

Santana stood there and stared at her for what seemed like forever. She looked into her eyes and saw conflict that seemed to be going on inside her. She finally decided not to yell, but instead she took her into her arms and held her tight.

Tears started to fill Rachel's eyes. She couldn't figure out why this woman she hardly knew was affecting her so. Her touch made her melt and electrified her at the same time. "Do you know what you've been putting me through?" Santana whispered. "I have been longing to touch you, even just to see you ever since you left my office."

"I'm sorry I haven't returned any of your calls," Rachel managed to whisper through the lump in her throat. Santana pulled away at arms lenght so that she could see her. She saw the tears filling her eyes and wiped them away with her thumb before the fell.

"I want to know why you've been avoiding me? I think I deserve that much. I have been going crazy trying to get a hold of you."

"I- am afraid." Rachel finally blurted out in a stutter.

"Afraid of what?"

"Afraid of everything that you make me feel!" she exclaimed. Santana was surprised, a little happy and confused. But she let her continue. "Afraid of the way I lose focus when I am near you. Afraid of how my knees become weak when I see your smile. Afraid, that if I give into my feelings that I would lose myself and do things I may even regret. But most of all, I am afraid that if I let things happen between us I will end up losing you."

Santana was definitely getting excited. She was glad that she was making her feel the same things she was doing to her, but aware of the strain the decision was causing her.

"I don't know if I can handle any of these feelings." Rachel decided to pull away and walk away from her, but Santana wasn't about to let her go again. She grabbed her and pulled Rachel to her.

"Don't you understand that's exactly what you are doing to me? I can't sleep without dreaming about you, I feel as if I can't breathe without you. You made such an impact on my being, I don't know if I can just let you walk away this time. Please stop being afraid."

The gentleness in Santana's tone was her undoing. Rachel knew that Santana was angry and hurt, but she was not showing those feelings while she spoke to her. Rachel knew that whatever Santana was feeling for her must be far greater than the anger and hurt she was sure she was feeling.

"I don't know." Rachel answered in a whisper. Santana couldn't resist anymore, she had to kiss her.

Santana kissed her as if her life depended on it, as if she needed her lips to breathe life back into her. She practically devoured her lips and she willingly participated. Rachel had never felt so much passion from anyone before. Santana had to stop herself before she lost control. The garage was not the best place to lose control. She held her instead.

"Now tell me you're afraid." Rachel couldn't. "Tell me you don't want this," Santana dared.

Rachel couldn't answer. She couldn't ignore her heart any longer. She couldn't ignore the feelings that kept growing each time she saw Santana. She couldn't ignore the linging or the emptiness she'd felt for a while now.

"Give me a chance." Rachel slowly nodded in resignation. She let her heart finally win over her head. "Will you have dinner with me tonight?" Santana asked.

"Can't tonight. What about tomorrow night?" Santana knew better than to ask her on a school night. Rachel can't leave the kids alone. "I'll ask Blaine to baby sit."

"I'll pick you up at around 6:30."

"Okay."

"Are you doing anything important right now?"

"Well, I am on assignment for Quinn. And don't you have people upstairs waiting for you?" Santana just realized she left her siblings upstairs. she seemed to forget a lot of responsibilities when she's around Rachel. She wanted to bring her upstairs to introduce her to her siblings, but she decided against it. She had probably put Rachel through enough emotional stress for one day.

Although she was not ready to let her go, she knew she had to get back to her siblings and she knew that she had to let her go do her job and to continue to deal with her other responsibilities. With that realization, she kissed her again. This time the intensity was greater than the first. Santana wanted to make sure Rachel remembered her kiss and she wanted to make sure she had enough of her to get her going until she saw her again. Santana was addicted to her smile and her presence before, but now she just became addicted to her kisses.

Rachel was kissing her back with all the passion she had been keeping inside her. She liked kissing Santana. She was enjoying her taste. She felt a tingling sensation from her head to her toe and she reveled in all those feelings. They finally stopped and stood there holding each other out of breath and weak at the knees. "I'd better go," Rachel whispered out of breath.

"Okay, I'll call you later."

"Okay," she said as she started to walk away. Santana held on until the last fingertips then walked back upstairs with a huge smile.

**A/N: Thanks for the review. I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Hope I got all the tenses fixed. Sometimes I miss things when I am re-reading.**


	8. Family's Reaction

_**Summary : Rachel lost her husband and never once thought about love. She was busy with her four kids and lived with memory of her love, until she bumps into Santana. Santana is a self-made billionaire who'd been unlucky in love until**__**she met Rachel.**_

"We didn't think you were coming back," joked Noah his oldest brother.

Santana was smiling now. They hadn't seen her smile like this wide in a long time.

Noah on the other hand was clean cut, almost like a preppy. Since he was married, he would tell them that he was not out to impress. Noah is the only brother of them beside Jake, but Jake always away for his dancing carreer since he is a dance. So he's not around that much with them.

"Looks like someone got her way," commented her other sister Marley. Marley had a long wavy hair almost looks like Rachel's hair, she was Santana's exercise buddy and the shortest of the three. She was also the most playful of the three, but when they got together they were all equally playful. It had been a while since they found a playful bone in Santana's body. She would laugh and tease, but they were restrained. Yet her smile at that moment was quite unrestrained.

"Santana, that's not really a good color on you." She was pointing at the small trace of lipstick right below her lower lip. Santana wiped it off immediately and just kept on smiling.

"So, are you planning to kiss and tell?" asked Noah.

"Are we ever going to meet this woman who is able to put a gigantic smile on our sister's usually pouting face?" asked Marley.

"All in good time my dear brother and sister. Just know that she is definitely the one."

"So we gather. We haven't seen you this way since you first got laid." Noah joked. He did not want to bring up her misfortunes with her past relationships.

"You could ask Penelope," Santana hinted. "She's already met her." She knew her place would be the first house Noah and Marley visited after leaving the cafe. She didn't care. She wanted to shout out her joy, but she knew it was not really appropriate. She felt as if her heart wanted to burst out of her chest. She couldn't describe the elation within her, only that it's there and she was enjoying every minute of it.

"Oh, so you introduce her to our sister, but you are going to keep us, your other dear brother and sister, out on the dark?" Marley joked. She was happy that her sister finally found someone who can put the smile back on her face.

"She met her because she comes to visit me in my office, unlike some people who only visits me when I offer to take them out to lunch," Santana joked back. They all laugh. "Don't worry, I will introduce you to her soon. We'd better get back to work."

"Mom, are you going to let us meet her?" asked Alexandra.

"Yes, but you already know her, sort of," she answered. She was nervous. She shouldn't be. It's not like she was a teenager going on her first date.

"We do?"

"Yes, it's Santana."

"The hottie that Toni said who owns the magazine?"

"Yes, did I put too much eye shadow?"

"Go mom. Maybe you shouldn't use any eye shadow. You look fine without it."

"And where did you say you were going tonight?"

"To the movies with a few friends."

"Okay, but you know what time you have to get home, right?"

"Yes, mom. I know, Midnight. So, tell me about this Santana? Where are you two going?"

"Okay Ally, how much do you want?"

"Just 20 bucks for the entrance and some popcorns."

"Okay, but remember no drugs, alcohol, or smoking. And nothing that will jeopardize your future." She just felt uncomfortable about mentioning sex, but they had the talk before and she trusted her.

"Yes, mom. You too." She had to smile.

"Give me my purse." She took out a 20 and a 10 and handed it to her. "Ten for just in case you get hungry after the movie. Have fun."

"Thanks, mom." She hugged her. "You have fun with the _hottie_."

"I wish you would stop saying hottie."

"Okay, if it makes you feel better I will call her Ms. Lopez."

"Thank you sweetheart. Now I wish Tony was taking this just as well as you are." She was worried. She saw the look in her oldest face when she told them she had a date, he'd looked as if he was betrayed. She could not erase it from her mind, but she could no longer deny herself a little bit of happiness. She was entitled to even a little bit. Wasn't she?

"Don't worry about Tony, mom. He's just a little bummed out because you're going out with someone. He'll get over it."

"I sure hope so. I don't like seeing him that way. He just left without saying goodbye earlier. He didn't even tell me where he was going. That's not like him. I guess he's a little angry." There was a knock on the door.

"Hey Rach," Blaine peeked through the door. "The twins are wondering if they can have pizza tonight for dinner. I told them I'd ask you first."

"That's fine. They know that Friday is a free night and so do you so why are you really here?"

"Just wanted to check out how you are doing?"

"I guess you two want to have alittle brother to sister talk, so I am going to get ready," Ally excused herself. "Have fun mom." She gave her a hug.

"You too. And remember what we talked about. And you," she looked at Blaine. "What is really wrong?"

"Well, I just wanted to see for myself if you really gave in to your heart."

"And, what do you think Doc?"

"I think you did and I am happy that you are trying to pursue another relationship."

"I don't know about Tony though."

"He'll get over it when he realizes that his mom also has a life to live."

"Thanks for watching the Twins tonight."

"I had no plans. Besides, I will be going out on another assignment soon so I want to spend as much time with them as possible."

"When are you going to get out of that kind of life?"

"Maybe when I am given a reason. You and I know it's hard to get out of this line of work especially when there are people out there that need protection."

"You have a point, but you know why I got out. Anyway, I wanted to talk to you about how much you've been working lately though. Are you still drowning yourself in work because of what heppened with you know who?"

"Maybe. I don't know. Sometimes I just start thinking about it and I still get so angry."

"That was almost a year ago. Don't you think you should try to move on?"

"Oh, look who's talking. It took you five years t get yourself to move on, your tragedy was not as unforgivable as mine. You didn't walk into your apartment and find your fiance in bed with another man."

"Okay, fine. But I lost a partner I have been living with for almost 14 years to a tragic event, and you were only living with this person for about three months. What do you think hurts more?"

"Well, at least you loss was because of a tragedy, my loss was tragic was embarrassing on my part and may I say traumatic for any one who has to go through it."

"You're right. I am sorry. I am just a little nervous. Beside you shouldn't blame yourself in your fiance decided to have an affair with another man, it's his fault not yours. And, it's his lost not yours. Good thing you found out before you married him."

"So, a little nervous about your first date huh?" he smiled.

"Oh, don't start. Go order your pizza. I know it was your idea not the twins." He gave her a "who me?" look. Just as he was leaving, "And Blaine, I know it will probably be hard for you to trust another man for a while, but just leave your heart open to the possibilities just like a wise man once told me." He told her that a few days ago when they were talking about Santana. But for some reason, it just didn't seem like it applied to him.

"I will try, but no guarantees." He shut the door behind him. Rachel finished getting ready. The twins knocked on the door.

"Come in."

"Hi, mom." They said in unison.

"Hi sweethearts. What's the matter?"

"You look pretty mom," Jaylen started and then gave her a hug.

"Are you looking for a Dad for us?" asked the ever-inquisitive Kaylen. Rachel was shocked.

"Now who told you such a thing?"

"Tony, he said so, when I was asking where you were going tonight."

"Oh no, sweetie. Mommy is just going out to dinner with someone, and it's a woman so not a Dad. Tony is just mad because I am going out to dinner with another person other than your dad."

"But, isn't dad up in heaven? So it should be okay right? Commented Jay.

"I think so. What do you think?"

"Well, it would be nice to have a Dad, I mean another Mom I guess," answered Kaylen.

"I don't know about getting you one sweetheart, I don't think I can just go out and buy one," she nudged their noses. Blaine knocked on the door again.

"There's this woman named Santana looking for you, you know her?" he joked.

"Okay, sweeties, you two behave for Uncle Blaine and make sure he doesn't eat all your pizza. Give me a kiss." They kissed her and she walked down the stairs to meet Santana who was busy looking at the pictures on the mantle. She stood there at that moment wishing it were her in those pictures with the kids and Rachel.

"Hi," Rachel broke her train of thought. Santana turned around and was taken aback. Rachel never seized to amaze her. Her beauty radiated and seemed to light up the room whenever she walked in. She felt her chest swell with pride. The royal blue satin spaghetti string dress brought out the light in her eyes and hugged the curves of her body well. The twins were behind her very curious to see who this woman was. They were peeking behind her and Blaine stood behind them.

"Hi," he managed to mumble. "Are you ready to go?"

"Yes, but there are a couple of people I want you to meet first." The twins walked out from behind her when they were near Santana.

"Oh, you must be Kaylen and Jaylen," she said as she stretched her arm out to shake their hands. They stood there wide-eyed wondering how this complete stranged knew their name. She smiled at them. "I'm Santana." Kaylen took her hand first.

"I'm Kaylen. Pleased to meet you.

"And I'm Jaylen. But I think you can call me Jay," he shook her hands while he looked up to his mom for approval. She smiled at him. Only friends and family could call him Jay, but Santana looked like friend. She was going to take his mom out to dinner.

"Tony and Alexandra have already gone out. Maybe you can meet them some other time," Rachel explained.

"Yeah, when Tony stops being mad," Kaylen blurted out. Santana looked at Rachel with a raised eyebrow.

"I'll explain later," she promised. "I guess you've met my brother Blaine."

"Yes," Santana waived at him from across the room. "You know, I was going to bring flowers, but I decided to bring the twins something instead. Is it okay with you?"

"Well, that all depends, what is it?" Santana pulled out two Game Boy Advance cartridges that they've been bugging Rachel to buy everyday since it came out.

They twins' eyes grew wide, but they knew there mom had the final say. They looked up to her with pleading eyes, she could not tell them no. She didn't want to make a scene and she knew they would be heart broken if she didn't let them have it. Rachel looked at Santana and she smiled at her. "Oh, okay you can keep it, but," she looked at Santana, "not too much of these types of gifts."

"Well, can I leave these for Tony and Alexandra?" Santana held up two tickets to the hottest boy band concert in two weeks, which was sold out within the hour after it was for sale and they couldn't buy any. The other two tickets were for hottest rock group, which was also sold out. Rachel was in a bind. If she let them have it, they would think that Santana was trying to buy their affections. If she didn't let them have the tickets, they would think that she was unfair since the twins got to keep their gifts.

"Well, you can leave it, but you should leave them a note with it."

"Okay, may I have some paper and a pen?" Santana always carried a pen, but she was trying to get away with the task. But, the twins were already next to her handing her a notepad and a pen with envelopes.

They knew their mom, she would not let her just leave something there without a note of explanation. She did the same thing to them. They were amused that she wasn't treating this woman differently.

Blaine just stood by and chuckled. Rachel gave him a look to tell him to shut up. He was enjoying her predicament too much. Santana wrote Tony and Alexandra each a note telling them the tickets were merely gifts and nothing more. They had the choice whether or not to accept them.

When she was done, she gave the things back to the twins and thanked them for their help. They bod their mom and Santana goodnight and left to play with their new game. Blaine stood by the open door waving goodbye.

"Hey Blaine," Santana ran back and handed him some UFC season tickets because Rachel had told her that Blaine liked to see Boxing and those kinds of competition since he sometimes play himself, "don't tell your sister. I think I've upset her too much already and the night hasn't even started."

"Goodnight," he shook her hands. "Oh, and Santana, I don't want to give you the whole speech, I'm sure you've heard it before, but if anything happens to her."

"I'd kill myself," Santana cut it. Blaine knew he could trust her. There was just something about Santana that drew her to their family. She'd already earned his approval. He just hoped his nephew could as well.

Blaine was looking at the way Santana was looking at Rachel earlier, and he could almost feel the intensity of her feelings towards his sister. He knew better than to doubt her feelings for Rachel. He went inside after they drove off. He started thinking about himself when he felt what he saw in Santana's eyes. He only met one man that made him feel that way again and he never wanted to see him again. He'd never told anyone about him, not even Rachel, he was still hopeful. Now that he was seeing what was going on with Rachel, his hope was much stronger than ever.

**A/N: Thanks for the kind reviews. I hope you are enjoying the story as much as I am, 'till next time!**


	9. First Date

_**Summary : Rachel lost her husband and never once thought about love. She was busy with her four kids and lived with memory of her love, until she bumps into Santana. Santana is a self-made billionaire who'd been unlucky in love until**__**she met Rachel.**_

They arrived at Carlos and Maria's home twenty minutes after they left Rachel's home. Rachel started to feel uneasy when they were driving through the residential are. She was imagining all kinds of terrible things. She expected for Santana to bring her to her favorite place, she didn't imagine it would be a house. The ride was quiet except for the rules that Rachel had listed about gift giving for the children.

Santana stopped the car and went out and opened the door on Rachel's side. Rachel was a little hesitant, but she took Santana's hands anyway. She wanted to run away, she wasn't ready to be intimate with a man she was just starting to know. Santana sensed Rachel's uneasiness, and held her when they arrived on the porch.

"It's not what you think," Santana reassured her. "I wouldn't try anything with you until you are ready."

Rachel looked up and looked in Santana's eyes to make sure she was not lying to her. Rachel saw nothing in her eyes that would indicate she was lying. Just then Maria opened the door.

"Hi, mami." Rachel's uneasiness turned into major nerves. She wasn't prepared to be intimate, but she wasn't ready to meet her parents either. Rachel looked at her, and she just smiled back.

"Hi, mija, your papi and I have been waiting for you. What took you so long?"

"I had to write some notes." Santana answered as Rachel glared at her.

"Why don't you two come inside."

"Thank you," Rachel answered politely.

"Mami, this is Rachel. Rachel, this is my mami, Maria." Rachel extended her hand; Maria pulled her in for a hug instead. Rachel was surprised, but she returned the hug happily.

Carlos came into the room to see what all the fuss about. He saw Rachel and he understood why Santana was so taken with her. "Papi, this is Rachel. Rachel. This is my papi, Carlos." Again. Rachel extended her hand and received a hug in return.

Rachel already felt as if she was part of the family. She wasn't nervous anymore. she felt at home. Carlos pulled away to give her space.

"Let me take a look at you. Ah, no wonder Santana was so obsessed with finding you," he blurted out. He always said what was on his mind. Santana was a little embarrassed, but she knew her papi and that was a compliment coming from him.

"Thank you, I think." Rachel answered.

"Do you know how grumpy she was that night she bumped into you and didn't get your name or anything?" Santana was getting more embarrassed. Rachel was enjoying herself.

"No, I don't," Rachel answered.

"Oh come on Carlos, let's eat. They're probably hungry," Maria cut in to Santana's rescue.

"I'm hungry," Santana answered willingly. "Rachie, didn't you say you were hungry."

"Oh, Sanny, you're no fun. I want to tell Rachel about the night you came over." Carlos insisted.

"Maybe some other time Carlos," Maria reprimanded him.

"Oh, okay. Rachel you remind me to tell you all abou it."

"Don't worry, I will," Rachel answered as she held on to his arms on their way to the dining room. Santana glared at her. She guided her mom to the dining room instead.

"So, what'd you coo mom?"

"I fixed your favorite of course. Roast Beef, steamed vegetables and baked potatoes."

Santana pulled the chair out for her mom. The table was already set. Santana then walked to pull the chair out for Rachel even though she was already in the process of seating herself. She knew her dad would just go to his seat. Rachel didn't expect the opening of doors or pulling of chairs, but she sure enjoyed it when it happened. Santana took a seat next to hers.

"Why don't we say grace first," Maria suggested. This was one request Carlos never opposed to. He and Maria always made sure they thanked the Lord for all their blessings. They all bowed their heads and Carlos led the prayer.

"Bless us, Oh Lord and these thy gifts, which we are about to receive, from your bounty through Christ our Lord. Amen, Thank you for helping Santana finally find her Rachel."

This earned another look from Santana, but Carlos didn't care. He was only telling the truth. He believed that without god's hand in his search and without the daily prayers he and Maria said on his behalf, Santana would not have found Rachel. Rachel smiled and gave Santana a pat on her knee.

"Let's eat." Carlos finally told them. He started first. Santana told her mom to go ahead, and then she offered serving Rachel, but she decided to do it herself.

The rest of the meal was a little quieter than Santana expected. She thought her dad was going to go on about Santana's embarrassing moments and other childhood mishaps. Santana was thankful, but she didn't like all the quiet either. So she decided to talk about how she found Rachel even if it meant embarrassing herself.

"So, do you want to know how I found Rachie?" Santana finally spoke out after about 5 minutes of silence.

"Sure," Carlos answered. He'd been dying to find out ever since he heard they were going over to dinner on their first date no doubt.

Santana never brought anyone home to meet her parents after just meeting them, let alone on their first official date. He knew this woman was the one Santana was destined to meet and marry. But he wasn't going to mention marriage just yet. It will spoil all his fun with her.

"Well, you won't believe it, but Rachel here has been working for Quinn off and on for about five years now. And she was given the most fearful assignment about three weeks ago."

"Really, she's been working with your magazine all this time and you two never bumped into each other." Maria commented in astonishment.

"So what was the fearful assignment?" Carlos asked.

"To take pictures of Santana," answered Rachel.

"You're right my dear, that was a horrifying experience wasn't it," Carlos chuckled. He grew fond of her every minute she spent with them. "She was probably on the phone, and grumpy because she couldn't find you and there you are walking into her office. See Santana, I told you the Lord works in mysterious ways." Carlos was enjoying himself. He was proud that maybe Maria and he had a hand in Santana's fate for happiness. They'd been praying for so long for her.

"As a matter of fact, she was on the phone, but wasn't that grumpy."

"Well, she was probably in shock when you walked in," Carlos answered.

"As a matter of fact, papi, you are right." Santana was smiling but had a serious tone.

Rachel never knew about her search, and she thought Santana was acting weird when she walked in that morning, but she never thought it was because she was in shock. Carlos decided to leave it at that.

"So what happened?" asked Maria.

"I took her pictures and she took me out to lunch. She said it was to make up for knocking me on my rear end a week before."

"Good excuse, mija. I knew I taught you well."

"Oh, please Carlos." Maria commented.

Santana and Rachel looked each other and smiled. Santana looked at her left hand and she finally noticed that she wasn't wearing her wedding ring anymore. she was beaming, she had to take her hand and kiss the place when the ring used to be to show her that she appreciated the gesture.

"Hey, not at the table," Carlos joked.

"I learned it from you remember." She chuckled. She knew her dad was joking. Rachel looked at her and Santana saw the deepest chocolate eyes she'd ever seen. she wanted to kiss her again right then and there, but she knew that was not appropriate. "Mami, dinner was great." She said instead.

"I agree Mrs. Lopez, everything was delicious."

"Oh, thank you and please don't call me Mrs. Lopez, you can call me mami and you can call that old geezer papi," Rachel thought that was a bit much, but she knew better than to argue with her elders. They reminded her of her own parents and she knew they would tell Santana the same. "We feel like you're already part of the family."

"Thank you," was all Rachel could say. Maria started to clear the table and Rachel stood to start helping.

"Oh, no, no," protested Maria. "Why don't you let Santana help me and you can take papi to the living room."

"Oh, yeah. Come on and let me finish the story about the night Santana bumped into you." Carlos snickered. Rachel didn't want to argue, so she took Carlos' arms and smiled at Santana on their way to the living room. Wehn Rachel and Carlos left the room, Santana started helping her mom.

"Mami, maybe that was a bit much about calling you mami and papi," she suggested.

"Maybe, but it's true. She will be my daughter in a short while, she might as well start getting used to it."

"What make you so sure I want to marry her?"

"Oh, please Santana. I'm your mother. You have never in your life ever taken a girl home to meet us on your first day. You've never looked at anyone else the way you look at Rachel. Oh and I think she likes you too," she joked.

"Am I that obvious?"

"Well, I don't know about anyone else, but I can see. I may be old, but I'm not blind sweetie. You lookat her like she's the only one in the room. You are also not the kind to show too much affection around others, but with ehr you seem like you feel free to express publicly how you feel. For goodness sakes Santana, you kissed her hand in front of us. Now when did you ever do that?"

"Probably never, but I can't help t. She makes me feel a lot of things I have never felt before and I feel that I can do anything when I am with her. I'm head over heels over her and I will be the first to admit it, although I will not tell anyone else that except for maybe you, papi and Penelope."

"Don't worry honey, all they have to do is look at you and her together and they'd know how much you love her." She did not want to say the "love" word, but with Rachel, Santana was just so easy to read. Santana loved her already even in just the short time they'd been together.

"Well, let's not get ahead of ourselves mami. I don't want to scare her with that kind of revelation. I think you've scared her enough for one day with the mami and papi comment." Santana said.

"Fine, but you and I know you don't have to say a word and people will know."

"I'm going to the living room now before papi starts telling other stories."

"Oh, you know your papi loves to tell stories about all of you."

"Yes, but I wish he wouldn't exaggerate the stories too much."

"Well, you know your papi, he loves to add pizzazz to his stories. He's the best storyteller ever. I'll see you in the living room."

Santana walked in jsut as her dad was at the end of one of his story. His dad was laughing and so was Rachel. Now she was wondering what other information her father divulged about her.

"So what did I miss?"

"Hi. Your dad was just telling me about the time you guys went camping. You and your brothers ran into a skun and people ran away from you because you guys smelled so bad."

Santana was relieved. Her dad had not told her about the night Santana bumped into her. But then again, maybe her dad was saving the story so that he can tell it when Santana was sitting with them. Now she was dreading being there. She didn't feel like getting a recap of the night her wits go the better of her. No one liked to be reminded of one's shortfall and that was one that Santana would soon forget.

She was enjoying the outcome of that little accident, just not how she acted after. She sat next to Rachel anyway and she put her arms around her. She liked being able to just hold her without hesitating anymore unlike the first time they were together.

"So, do you want to take a tour around the house? I can show you my old bedroom." Carlos raised his eyebrow in question. "Then we can take a little walk around the back in mami's garden." She added looking at her dad.

"Sure, as long as your mom and dad don't mind."

"Papi? You mind?"

"No, go ahead. I will wait for your mami over here and watch the Weakest Link. I like that woman. She's full of spunk. Kinda reminds me of your mother when we first met."

"Okay, we'll be back." Santana stood up and offered Rachel her hand.

They held hands as they walked up the stairs to take a look at the rooms. When Santana opened her old room, Rachel was amazed. Everything seemed to still be in tact from Santana's teenage years. The room was spotless. It had two twin beds with matching comforters, one side still had posters or the rock stars and models in swimsuit, and the other side had a bookshelf filled with countless books.

"So, I guess the side with the rock and models was your side of the room, huh." Rachel joked. She could tell that Santana had been in the straight and narrow path. She smiled at her to ket her know she was joking. Santana held her close and leaned back against her. "You're mom hadn't change a thing since you all moved out, has she?"

"Nope, not a thing. She said she wanted it this way. So that we will always have a place to go back to if we ever need to. And my brothers, sisters and I have taken her on her word on a few occasions. Of course, most of the time it was their grandkids that used these rooms and now their great-grandkids, but she likes it that way."

"That's great. My fathers also keep our rooms available for us and my kids use them when they sleep over there, except they've removed the posters, but kept the awards."

"Fathers?" Santana asked, she didn't know about that 'till now.

"Yes. I have two fathers, dad and daddy, they addopted me and Blaine when we were babies." She said looking down.

"Hey, it's okay. There's nothing wrong with that." Santana said lifting her chin and she kissed her her lips softly before down to her neck as they stood in the middle of the room.

A lot of thoughts were runnng across in Santana's mind as she looked at the bed, but she shook them away. Rachel deserved more respect than that. She decided to lead her away from her old room and towards the back of the house. She led her slowly down the back stairs out into the back yard to walk around the garden.

Her mami had a very beautiful garden. The path to the gazebo was lined with red and white roses. There were fruit trees along the far side near the fence, a small basketball court on the other side, and a nice wide lawn with beautiful green grass on the right hand side of the gazebo bear a barbecue pit built from bricks. All the plants, except for a few evergreens where blooming. Rachel was enjoying the sights. The garden was beautiful and the backyard was huge it almost looked lile a park without the playground.

"There used to be a swing set and a sand box near the side of the house, but the swing set broke. They did make a new play area for the great- grandkids. This time they put barks and a place to ride their bikes, a clubhouse with a slide. The sandbox is now at Penelope's house. She thought she had first dibs on it, since she was the first one who gave my parents a grandchild. No one argued about it." Santana led her inside the gaze where the swing chair was set. She sat down and pulled Rachel down gently to sit next to him.

"Thanks for sharing your favorite place with me," Rachel said.

"You're welcome. And don't think it will end here. I want to share all of my favorite places with you. This was my first home and to be honest with you, I still feel at home here every time I go inside. That's why I always go her when I feel depressed, when I feel angry, when I feel happy, when something big happens in my life. With all the important thing that happen in my life. I usually go here and either talk to my parents or just sit here in this chair and think."

"So, that night you ran into me, would that be a happy thing since you came straight over here?" Rachel was curious. Santana was the most important thing that happened in her life for a long time and she just wanted to know if Rachel was important to her as Santana was to her.

"The truth?" she asked. Rachel nodded. "I was angry at myself, so I came here to kick myself in the ass. After you left me in the hallway and I got my brain to start working again, I realized I didn't ask you for your name. I didn't ask you for any information about yourself. So I came here to vent my frustration. My papi was trying to make me laugh and I was getting more frustrated until he made me realize that I should be using my brain to think of how to find you instead of thinking about ways I should have done when you were in front of me." Rachel was smilling trying to hold back her laughter.

"He's a very wise man," Rachel said calmly still trying to hide her amusement.

"You're laughing at me."

"No, sweetie, I am laughing with you." She finally let out a giggle she'd been holding in. Santana reached out to brush her cheek with the back of her hand. Rachel started getting a little self-conscious and stopped laughing.

"I would have gone to the ends of the earth to look for you," Santana told her. Now she was getting serious and Rachel was sorry she started laughing.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to laugh."

"I don't mind. The only thing that really matters to me right now is that you're here next to me and I can do this." Santana kissed her lips with tenderness while she caressed her back. The heat of their kiss was mounting and if Santana didn't stop, she would take her then and there.

She pulled away, they looked at each other with hunger they've never seen before. But Santana didn't want to take her, not there and not with her parents in the house. When she made love to Rachel, she wanted everything to be perfect and she wanted her to be ready. Even if she saw the hunger and passion in Rachel's eyes, she knew she was not ready mentally or emotionally. Santana had to take her time, but she didn't know how long she could last. She kissed her lips again quickly and then stood up.

"Come on, we'd better get back in there or else my parents will became curious and come out here and look for us. And if we keep kissing the way we just did, they might find us in a very uncompromising position." Santana winked at her and she understood. Rachel felt her passion and felt her own. They walked back inside the house. They found her parents watching the Millionaire show. Maria looked up.

"Hi you two. How was the tour?"

"You have a beautiful home and a very beautiful garden, Mrs. Lopez," Rachel commented.

"Now what did I tell you about Mrs. Lopez," she corrected her.

"I'm sorry. It's out of habit."

"So what are your plans for the rest of the evening?" asked Carlos curiously. He could still see the desire in Santana's eyes, but decided not to joke about it. He could understand her feelings.

"I wanted to take Rachel out dancing, but she has a curfew." Santana joked.

"Ues, my teenagers have to be home at a certain time and I want to try to set a good example by sticking the same curfew." Maria admired her even more. "I know I can make the rules for myself, but this way maybe I can get them to follow the rules if they see me following my own rules."

"That's great!" agreed Carlos. "So you guys want to join us here for a little whie?"

"Come sit here, dear." Coaxed Maria. "Tell me more about your children. I understand you have four." Rache sat next to Maria and Santana sat next to her with her arms around Rachel's shoulders.

"Yes I do. There's Anthony who is 17 and will soon be graduating from high school, and the there's Alexandra who is fifteen and into boys, malls and the phone or instant messaging, then there are the twins Kaylen and Jaylen who are precocious and sweet."

"You have your hands full being a single mother."

"Yes, I do, but I got a lot of help from my brothers and fathers. Blaine lives with us and helps me out until he finds his own place. He's great with the kids and they adore their uncle. He is babysitting tonight."

"That's great! Family is always the best source for support."

They kept talking for almost two hours until Carlos decided it was time for them to turn in, but really he wanted to give them some time alone. They told Santana to lock the door on their way out and that they could stay there for as long as they want. They just sat on the couch cuddling with a little kissing and a lot of talking.

They almost lost track of time, but Rachel was too conscious of her responsibilities. Santana took her home a little after 11:30. The ride was a little quiet and when they arrived at her house, she walked her to the door and kissed her again. That time it was the only little kiss. Santana was getting too conscious about the kids or her brother maybe watching.

They made plans for lunch on Monday. Santana didn't want to pressure her too much and she understood that Rachel had other things she had to take care of, so she didn't want to ask her for lunch everyday. Santana decided she would take things one day at a time with her.

**A/N: Thank you for the reviews. Keep them coming. Hope I'm getting all the grammatical errors out of the way. And sorry for Rachel Lovers, I just didn't really know about vegan food and jewish prayer so keep up with me. 'till next time!**


	10. More Family?

**_Summary : Rachel lost her husband and never once thought about love. She was busy with her four kids and lived with memory of her love, until she bumps into Santana. Santana is a self-made billionaire who'd been unlucky in love until_**_**she met Rachel.**_

The weekend went by fast. Rachel decided to meet Santana at her office a little earlier than what they planned. She wanted to chat with Kurt.

"Hi, I am supposed to be meeting Santana for lunch, but I thought I'd come here a little early to find out how things are going with you? How is Sugar?" She loved to talk about kids, her kids, and other people's kids.

"She's great. Has a little stuffy nose, but she seems to be playing as usual."

"Does she usually feel like that around spring time?"

"You know come to think of it, she does get like that around this time of year."

"Try asking the doctor to see what she says about allergies. My twins had the same problems. They are growing out of it, thank goodness."

"Thanks I will. Do you want me to announce that you are here?"

"Nah, we can chat for a while. We're going to lunch anyway. Unless you're ready to leave for lunch?"

"Actually, I wanted to thank you personally on behalf of me and the rest of the staff." Kurt said.

"For what?" Rachel asked curiously.

"Santana has been in a great mood, and we all believe it has something to do with you. So thank you. We've been all trying to not get on her bad side ever since that little incident a few years ago." Kurt replied.

"What was that?" asked Rachel.

"Oh, she saw her ex-fiance's face on the front page of her magazine. And let me tell you, there was hell to pay. It's been down hill ever since."

"Hmm.. Any idea why she disliked her so much?"

"That part of the story you will have to ask her. It's not my place to tell you and all I know are just hearsay anyway. For all I know none of it was true. Better to hear it from the horse's mouth if you know what I mean." Just then Santana opened the door to let Kurt know to just send Rachel right in when she arrived.

Santana's face brightened at the sight of Rachel standing next to the counter. Just the sight of her took her breath away. She was wearing her khaki Capri pants that hugged the form of her shapely legs and a navy blue cashmere v-neck sweater that only highlighted the chocolate color of her eyes.

"Hi, I was just about to tell Kurt to send you in when you get here," she was talking to Rachel now as if Kurt wasn't even in the room. Kurt didn't mind as long as Santana was finally happy. And so far from what he'd observed, she was quite happy. Santana realized that they were not alone.

"Well, since you're here why don't you go on inside and relax. And Kurt, you can go to lunch if you would like, take a long lunch if you'd like."

Rachel walked towards her and gave her a little kiss on the lips. Kurt knew she wanted to be alone. So he obliged her hidden request. Santana had already ordered their lunch before she went out of her office, the lunch was arriving when Kurt was on his way out. He turned around and winked at Santana.

Rachel was surprised to see Santana with lunch all ready. She thought they were going to lunch. Santana walked the deliveryman to the small round table and let him set it up. She then walked him out, tipped him and told him she would call them back when she was ready for them to pick up the cart.

"So, are you hungry?" Santana asked excitedly. She felt like a schoolboy out on her first real date.

"A little," Rachel lied. She was starving. She had skipped breakfast trying to get her errands done before she got to Santana's office.

"Shall we eat?" Santana led her to the round table and pulled out the chair for her. "I hope you don't mind that I ordered for you."

"No, not at all."

"Well, I hope you like shushi." Rachel was amazed at how well Santana had been guessing her favorite foods. It warmed her to know they seemed to be in sync with their minds.

"I love sushi."

Santana was glad. So far she'd been guessing right. She loved the same food and nothing brought more satisfaction to her than to find that they had many things in common. She unwrapped the chopsticks for Rachel and poured some soy sauce over the wassabe and ginger. They ate quietly except for occasional small talk, but they kept stealing glances at each other.

It was clear that the hunger ran deeper than mere daily sustenance, but both were hesitant to feed that other just yet. Santana was afraid to take their relationship a step further until she knew Rachel was ready emotionally. Rachel was still a little hesitant because of her guilt. She still felt as if she was betraying Charles somehow. Santana sensed her wariness and guessed that Rachel still may be feeling guilty. But damn it all, Santana didn't like being compared to a memory or to a ghost. Santana didn't know how to compete. She didn't know how Charles was with Rachel and from the pictures she was sure that he did not mistreat her.

They finished lunch without any word exchanged between them except for the unspoken language being spoken through their eyes. Santana pulled out the chair for Rachel as she was ready to stand up. She took Rachel's hand and she followed her to the couch. Santana pulled her on her lap.

This surprised Rachel and excited her the same time. Rachel was tired of the mixed feelings. She was hoping they would just go away. She hated being unsure of herself and her feelings and Santana brought all those feelings with her touch, her smile and most of all her kisses.

"So did you enjoy lunch?" Santana asked.

"Yes, thank you." Rachel looked at her and wondered if it was the right time to ask about the topic Kurt brought up earlier. Santana sensed there was something on her mind. She saw her brows come together.

"Was there something you wanted to say?"

"Well, there was something I wanted to know about." Rachel said.

"And what was that?" Santana asked while she ran fingers through Rachel's hair.

It was making it hard for Rachel to concentrate, but she had to focus. She put her arm around Santana's neck and started toying with her hair. That was driving Santana crazy. Santana was more aroused now than she was when she first saw her. She took Rachel's hands in hers to stop the torment.

"Well, I just found it odd that your staff was thanking me for something." She finally said.

"What did they thank you for?" Santana asked quite surprised.

"For putting a smile back on your face. I guess you rarely smiled before I took your picture. Is that true?"

"I guess so. I never really paid much attention to whether I smiled or not." Santana answered.

"They also thanked me because now you are now easier to get along with than the past years. Is that true too?" Rachel was building Santana up to her real concert. She was curious about the fiance that she hand't mentioned yet.

"I think I must agree to that. Even my family said I was hard to get along with. I guess I'd better tell you the story behind that huh?" Rachel smiled at her and thanked her lucky stars that Santana somehow figured out what she was trying to ask her for.

Santana's eyes became bluer as she thought about the story. Rachel watched as her eyes that were full of laughter now became full of anger and fury. Rachel was a little frightened, but Santana still held her and made her feel re-assured the anger wasn't directed at her at all.

"About two years ago, I saw my ex-fiance picture in the front page of my own magazine. This brought back a lot of hurt and anger that I was trying so hard to put behind me. I started venting my anger on my staff, and especially on poor Quinn. I am surprised she's still with me after all these years and after all I said to her. I must have called her all kinds of names when that was published."

"Her career was going down hill fast that she wanted to use my magaizne and her previous connection with me as publicity stunt to try and gain interest her way. Quinn, of course, wasn't aware of this. Her agent gave Quinn a story of how good it would be for my magazine to have a little story of my past. Of course she lied about how I broke off the engagement, which made me even more furious that I already was. She told Quinn and practically everyone in the bay are area and maybe the whole United States that her career was taking a toll on the relationship and we spent so little time together and that we decided together that it was best to break it off until we both had more time to spend together. She lied and Lord help me I felt like killing her all over again." Santana saw the fright in Rachel's eyes.

"Not to worry. She is still alive and well. But she is probably the only person in this whole universe that actually made me feel pure hatred." Rachel looked baffled now. She couldn't still comprehend how she earned Santana's hatred. Upon seeing the look on Rachel's face, Santana continued.

"I guess I would have to start at the point on when she first earned that type of feeling from me. It happened about ten years ago and before you start telling me about hot it's a long time for a person to hold a grudge, hear me out. Besides I had completely left it in the past until she told the lies in the magazine, my magazine to be exact. Anyway, about ten years ago, we were engaged for about six months and have been living together in my apartment for about five months, but we've had a relationship for about two years before I asked her to marry me. I was away on business but it end early so I decided to take the first fly out and surprise her. When I got home I was faced with the surprise of my life. I found my best friend, his girlfriend, and my fiance in my bed completely naked in the middle of a little home video making. They were fucking and laughing. It's a picture I had a very hard time to erase from my mind for almost three years."

"I was so hurt, angry and most of all betrayed by the people who supposedly loved me. I started screaming at them. I told my ex- best friend and his girlfriend to get the hell out while they still can. They grabbed their clothes and ran. I didn't turn myself to be in the same room with her so I told her as calmly as I could to pack all her things and get the hell out before I got back. She had the gall to ask me if the wedding was still on, if I wasn't against beating someone that I loved, I think I would have beaten her senseless. I walked out and slammed the door on the way out. Of course then I drove to my parent's house."

"Oh, honey, I am so sorry." That was probably the last thing that Santana expected to hear from her. She was waiting for her to rant and rave about not listening to an explanation.

Santana felt better getting the past out in the open with her, but she never imagined she would volunteer the information to someone she was still trying to get acquainted with. Rachel kissed her forehead gave her a long hug. Santana was lost. She had never felt sure about anything in her life before about anything until that moment. She was sure that she wanted to spend the rest of her life with Rachel. "You and my brother should talk." Rachel whispered.

Santana pulled away at arms length to look at her with brows raised. Rachel kept playing with her hair with a smile, "What do you mean?" Santana finally asked.

"Only that you two have something in common. You'll have to ask him for the details." Rachel said.

Rachel kissed her lips this time. She couldn't help herself. They were so inviting. It wasn't thorough kiss, just a quick kiss to reassure her that she understood. But instead of reassurance, the kiss became a little hot and demanding. She couldn't understand her need to feel Santana's touch and to taste her kisses. This was all so new to her. Even she had no felt all this wanting when she and Charles were dating or after they were married. She pulled away to try to get a hold of her emotions but she could not mistake the passion in Santana's eyes. She was sure it mirrored hers.

Santana was disappointed the kiss had to end, but she was glad that Rachel had the same passion in her violet eyes as he felt within herself. Santana liked the way her eyes turned deeper purple with passion. The buzzer from the intercom broke through the magic and brought them back to reality.

Rachel stood up to let Santana answer the call. Santana walked to her desk and Rachel sat down on the couch to dwell on her new emotions that she made her feel. She liked all the emotions, but she couldn't understand why she felt them after such a short time of knowing Santana. Even with Charles it took almost two years for her to feel anything for him other than friendship and when she did, it wasn't as strong as the feelings she was now experiencing for this woman. She felt as if she'd known her all her life. She felt the spark with their first touch as if something was awakened within her soul. She was so immersed in her thoughts she did not even hear Santana talking to her until she put her hand on her shoulder.

"A penny for your thoughts?" Rachel smiled up at her. As usual the smile took Santana's breath away.

"Sorry,"

"It's okay. I just wanted to warn you about some visitors." Santana was going to find out one of these days what had gotten Rachel in such a trance. It would have to be soon, but not today. Santana didn't like the confusion in her face, but first she had to deal with her brothers. They were going to enjoy themselves immensely at her expense.

"You have visitors?" asked Rachel.

"Yes, sort of."

"Well, uh maybe I should just call you later then?"

"I don't think so. They came here to meet you not to see me. How they found out you were here is beyond me, but since they're here and you're here I don't see any reason to delay your meeting my brothers."

More family? She became self-conscious and started fixing her hair and straightening her clothes. Santana held her hand in hers and brushed a kiss on her soft pouty lips that was still a little rosy from the other kiss they shared.

"You look fine."

They walked towards the door and Santana turned on a few more lights before she opened it. She noticed it wasn't even locked. She knew then that Santana did not mean for them to have anything else but lunch. She knew the kiss would have remained a kiss. She stood behind her while she greeted her brothers.

"So, where is she?" Noah asked in a whisper.

"You can stop whispering she can hear you." Santana pulled Rachel to her side. "Rachel, this ugly looking oaf is my brother Noah and the other one is Jake."

Rachel smiled at them as she held her hand out to shake their hands. They were too stunned to notice her hand. Their mouths dropped open. Rachel didn't want to embarrass them anymore that they already have. It was amusing to see such reaction. She had never gotten used to that type of response. She always thought herself as a little pretty, but not beautifully mesmerizing as she was once told.

Santana couldn't contain her amusement. She was glad the they were making such fools of themselves. Serves them right for making fun of her that day they had lunch. Rachel decided to break the ice a bit. "So I guess ugliness runs in the family?" This brought a smile to Santana's face. She thought Rachel was sweet to try not to notice their reaction too much. Santana decided to play along.

"Ugliness maybe, but utter stupidity is a family trait that skipped me. I have to apologize for my brothers lack of manners." Santana smiled at her still trying to contain her laughter. The comment however, brought the two men out of their trance. Noah was the first to acknowledge her hand. Instead of shaking it he brought his lips and kissed her hand. This brought a scowl on Santana's face as was intended.

"It's a pleasure finally meeting you. I was starting to think Santana made you up, but her description of you was not even close to the beauty before me." This earned a chuckle from Santana and one from Jake. Rachel was speechless. Jake took her hand from Noah's, but only to shake.

"You have to excuse him, it's just that Penelope and Santana's description of you do not do you justice at all."

"Thank you, I think?"

"So, how did you find out Rachel was here?" Santana asked impatiently as she took Rachel's hand back from Jake's, which he was still holding it long after the handshake.

"Oh, we were just in the neighborhood and thought we'd take you out to lunch." Jake lied.

They had seen Kurt at cafe and he inadvertently told them Santana was out to lunch with Rachel. They practically shoved their food down their mouths and hurried over. They weren't going to miss seeing the woman who'd manage to make their sister into a besotted teenager.

"By the way, I meant that you are much more beautiful in person that from the description they gave us of you." Rachel blushed at the compliment. She wasn't used to being admired so openly by anyone since Charlie's death. She usually just ignored the compliments, but for some reason, coming from Santana's brothers it was much more difficult to ignore.

Santana on the other hand felt proud to be hearing the compliments about Rachel. It made her chest expand with joy as well.

"Well, what did you ever see in our sister?" Noah joked.

More bantering went on with the three, but the made sure they included Rachel. She was enjoying their friendly insults. She laughed at their jokes and their stories. She found out more about Santana and felt a little closer to her than she did before.

After a few minutes of teasing, the shock wore off from Noah and Jake's mind. Rachel was human after all. At first they thought she must have been an imaginary being Santana made up to get them to stop from their match making.

After an hour of jesting with Santana and Rachel, they were sure Rachel would be the only one for their sister. After meeting her, they couldn't imagine anyone else being part of Santana's life. They were also sure that Santana felt the same way from the way Santana gawked at her and from the twinkling in her eyes, they were sure Santana already loved her. Now the trick was making her realize it before she messed it up.

If only they knew what Santana was feeling, they would know that she already made up her mind to have Rachel part of her life for all eternity. They would know that she had found the only soul that was perfectly matched with her soul. She didn't believe much in destiny, she always thought that everyone had control over his or her own lives, but meeting Rachel changed her mind a bit. She now accepted all those failed relationships, she was sure they didn't work out because some higher power knew that she would someday meet her destined partner.

They talked a little more and then Noah and Jake decided to leave them and get back to work. Rachel followed them out shortly after they left. She had to pick the twins up from school and had to deal with traffic.

**A/N: Okay, I hope you enjoy the update as much as I do, That would be some Tony next chapter so keep update! Thank you so much for reviews, 'till next time! Ciao- **


	11. Family Time

_**Summary : Rachel lost her husband and never once thought about love. She was busy with her four kids and lived with memory of her love, until she bumps into Santana. Santana is a self-made billionaire who'd been unlucky in love until**__**she met Rachel.**_

_**Fridaglee17: Yes, her family is like really big, you will find out soon. And she has 4 siblings. So it's five of them; Penelope, Noah, Santana, Marley and Jake.**_

_**W1cked: yes she would!**_

_**Guest: yes, I know it kinda is but I liked it so far. And about the names, well this is my fic so I think I could call them all I want no offence just stating the truth.**_

_**Thank you for Reviews Guys!**_

They spent their lunches together for the rest of the week. They took long walks on Pier 39 and Union Square. Santana did not want to disrupt Rachel's evening with her kids so she ahd to be content with the lunches they shared and the conversations they had late at night with their web phones. She liked seeing Rachel in her pajamas and she in turn like seeing her in hers.

Santana asked if they would spend the weeked with her family. Everyone wanted to meet her and since the coming weekend was Easter, she wanted to jold a little get together at her parents place for the rest of the family to meet her and for Santana to get to know her kids. Her kids were excited, especially the twins after she mentioned a little egg hungting excursion before Easter. Rachel had a hard time trying to convince Tony to go with them, but even he couldn't deny the changes in his mom in the recent week. Even though deep down in his heart he couldn't deny his mother her happiness, he felt he had to be against it for his dad's memory.

"You're just like Uncle Blaine's ex-fiance!" Tony exploded at his mother. "You jump at the chance to be with the next man – no it's not even a man mom – it's a woman that came your way! Since when you became like that, you're not a dy – this just isn't you!"

"Don't you dare finish that word young man! You're being unfair Tony, and since when do you care about such things Tony? You of all people should know that your grandfathers are gay so is your Uncle Blaine! I will not stand and let you disrespect all of them saying things like that." Rachel told him calmly. "And since when did you ever see me go out with another man or woman or be in another person's company while your father was alive?" She added even though she was hurting inside.

The other kids stayed in their room. That was the first time they'd heard any type of angry words exchanged for as long as they could remember. They would bicker amongst each other as siblings did, but fighting with their mom had never happened. Blaine, however, could no longer keep out of the conversation and walked in to correct what Tony blurted out in anger.

"Don't you ever, ever compare your mother to that man! Ever!" he spat, "And since when you became a homopobic Tony!"

"Blaine please, this is between Tony and me," she tried to calm him. Just hearing about his fiance made him furious again, not just that Tony was just practically insulted their sexuality.

"No, I will not stay out of this any longer. He's old enough to realize his mistakes. Tony you apologize to your mother!"

"I won't and you can't make me. You are not my father!"

"That's right. I am not your father and your father is not here. He's dead! I am sorry if you still miss him, but you're not the only one who does. He was one of my best friends and he was the only brother I ever had. You think I would let your mother, my sister, go out with any other person without meeting my approval?" Tony was taken by surprise at Blaine's statement. "You are being unfair with your mom. She has bever been unfaithful with your dad for as long as they've been together."

"How would you know? She was away a lot when we were younger. She probably went and met with another man or _woman_ for all we know." He spat back still trying to hold on to his anger.

"I know, because every time your mom went away on assignment I was with her. If you remember, i was her partner on those assignments. And what's your problem with your mom dating a woman, you've never had problem that I am dating other man." Tony could no longer go on. He knew he was out of line.

"I'm sorry mom. You too uncle Blaine. I know I was out of the line, I didn't mean to say it out like that. You know I had no problem with those since I know that you are gay Unk B." He said as he started crying and gave her a hug. Blaine gave him a nod, "I know you didn't mean it nephew." He told him.

"It's okay sweetheart. I know this is hard for you. And if you must know, it was very hard for me too at first."

"Really?"

"Yes, I felt I was betraying your father in a way. That was when I tried to avoid Santana for over a week. But avoiding her was only making my heart ache even more."

"I didn't know that."

"Well, you would have if you haven't been avoiding me as well. I couldn't explain all the feelings I was having and I was trying to block them out. But, I lost the fight and now I am much happier. Please sweetie, I have been mourning your dad for over five years, I think it's time for me to move on."

"As long as he or she makes you happy."

"She does sweety, but you know what would make me even happier?"

"What?"

"If you would give him a chance and get to know him."

"I'll do my best."

"That's all I ask. So, what about the picnic tomorrow?"

"Do I really have to go?"

"It would be nice. You could bring Harmony with you. I told Ally she could bring her friends as well."

"Do I have to go?" Blaine joked to make the mood a little lighter.

"Yes," answered Rachel as sternly as she could bring herself to.

"If I have to go, you have to go," joked Tony.

"Yeah, but you have your girlfriend to take, I don't have anyone to take," he joked back.

Everything was back to normal, or as normal as it could be under the circumstances. Ally peeked her head from the stairs to check if the coast was clear since she could no longer hear them screaming, mostly Tony screaming.

"Is it safe to come down now? I am starving." She joked as she came down with the twins behind her.

The next day, Rachel, Blaine, and the kids went to Santana's parents house to meet their family for a picnic lunch. Harmony had other plans and Ally's friends cancelled last minute. They found Santana pacing the porch as they drove up in the driveway.

"She looks as nervous as you," Blaine joked.

"Oh, hush!" Rachel punched him in the arm. Santana finally broke out of his reverie and walked down the porch to open the door for Rachel. Tony was surprised at her gesture. He didn't remember his father ever doing that for his mom. He tried to do it for Harmony when they went out, but sometimes he just forgot. He decide it was because Santana was still trying to impress his mom.

"Hi, I was worried you guys might have gotten lost," Santana told her after taking her hand to let her down from the van. She then gave her a little kiss on the lips. That surprised Tony more. His dad hardly ever showed his affections openly with their mom.

"Are you kidding? I never get lost," joked Blaine as he walked around the van to shake Santana's hand. They all said "Yeah right!" at the same time.

The twins opened the door and jumped down and gave Santana a hug at the same time. The were most excited at the prospect of getting a dad – or second mother. They had been praying and wishing every night since they met Santana that she would be with their mom and would be their other mom, but they hadn't told anyone except each other. Santana was taken by surprise at the gesture, but welcomed it openly. She was still carrying them when Ally went out followed by Tony.

"Ah, you must be Alexandra and Anthony?" Santana tried to extend her hand that was holding Jay.

"You can call me Ally," Ally replied as she shook her hand.

"Well, nice to meet you in person Ally, you can call me Santana."

Santana noticed that Tony was a little hesitant but shook her hand anyway. His mom always taught him to be polite even when he didn't feel like being polite. Santana sensed his uncertainly and knew he was far from being accepted by her future son.

She'd already been thinking of the kids as her kids especially the twins who seemed to have accepted her instantly and unconditionally. She'd even talked to them when she was on the phone with Rachel and briefly had a conversation with Ally when she was thanking her between her excitement over the concert tickets with backstage passes. But she knew she hadn't really accepted her fully into her life like the twins had, but at least Ally wasy giving her a chance which Tony didn't seem to want to give at that time. She made a mental note to talk to him.

"And you too Anthony," she added after briefly shaking his head.

Carlos and Mario came out to greet them. They have Rachel hugs and kisses.

"Welcome!" exclaimed Maria. "The rest of the family is out back. They have been eagerly waiting for all of you to arrive."

"Hi m – Mrs. Lopez, Mr. Lopez," Rachel stopped herself from saying "mom". She didn't think it appropriate especially in front of her kids who did not yet know Santana's family. Maria caught the hesitation and decided not to push her more informal title. But Carlos on the other hand always said what was on his mind.

"Oh, no we're on formal terms again," he joked. Maria elbowed him on the ribs, which brought some giggles from the twins. Rachel blushed, but was rescued by Santana.

"Well, don't you want to meet my papi and mami?" she asked the twins. They both nodded excitedly. They loved meeting new people. Santana set them down and held their hands. "Mami, Papi. This is Kaylen," she pointed at Jay, "and this is Jaylen," she pointed at Kay. It made them giggles even more.

"You're silly," announced Kay. "I'm Kaylen and he's Jaylen," she corrected her.

"Well, I am still trying to learn who's who," Santana joked, apologized.

"Oh you two are adorable," Maria cut it. "Do you know I have twin grandchildren too?"

"Where are they?" asked Jay.

"They're not here. They live in New Jersey, but they're not as big as you two, they're only two years old."

"Cool, maybe we'll see them some other time?" asked Kay. Santana interrupted the conversation to introduce Ally and Tony.

"And these two tall people are Alexandra and Anthony," pointing to them appropriately. They were too old for silly jokes and certainly could not be mistaken for each other.

"Wow, you two are tall!" excalimed Carlos. "Rachel they look like you too, especially your daughter only the height are different." He joked and took Ally hand. "You look just as beautiful, you lady." He took Anthony's hand and looked up at him, "Heard you want to be a doctor like your dad?"

Tony was surprised. He thought his mother wouldn't mention his father to strangers, especially to people whose daughter was his mother's girlfriend. On the contrary, Rachel had been talking to Maria and Carlos freely about Charles and her concerns with Tony. They knew how hard he'd been taking her mother's new relationship with their daughter and had been asking them for advice as well as her own parents.

"Yes, sir," was all Tony could blurt out.

"Well, from the looks of you. I think you will be a great doctor," adde Maria. "I am not just saying that to impress you either. From what I hear from your mother, you are an intelligent you man and now that I see you. I believe she's right."

Tony blushed from the openness he was receiving. He was sure they would shut the kids down since they weren't really part of the family. He was wrong again like he was wrong about Santana. He still had a lot to learn about people. He'd been so wrapped up with his mourning that he'd been afraid to let other people besides his family near his heart.

"And you," Maria turned her attention to Ally, "you are just as beautiful and if you are like your mother, you are probably just as smart and artistic."

"I like to dance and act," she answered.

"Really! My youngest son likes to dance. He loved it actually. He loved it so much that he went to New York, Paris and London to study dancing." Carlos said proudly.

"Wow, is he here?" Ally exclaimed.

"Unfortunately, he's not and he's stopped dancing for a while." Carlos answered.

"No way!" Ally couldn't believe her ears.

"Yes, way." Answered Carlos. "I love the way kids talk nowadays. It sounds like a different language altogether." He laughed.

"I'm sorry. I meant no disrespect."

"Oh, don't you worry abou tit honey. We have grandkids your age and they talk the same way. It just amazes Carlos sometimes that they could talk with so little syllable and understand each other. I am sure you will get along well. But, yes, he took a little break after the accident, but I'm sure he will be back in the swing of it soon. I'll show you pictures inside of him if you want."

"That would be so cool."

"Well, I think we've stood out here long enough. Want to look at the pictures and meet the rest of the family?"

"Sure."

"But wait a minute, I haven't met this other handsome young man." She walked towards Blaine. "Carlos I think I finally found someone to replace you with," she joked. This brought a smile to Blaine's face.

"Ah, but you'd better ask him if he has a boyfriend first so that we can make a fair trade. He's gay darling, nice try." Carlos joked as the others laughed, Blaine didn't know that Santana's family knew about his sexuality but he thought that Rachel had told them about the family. Santana just stood beside Rachel watching all the interaction between their families while holding the twins' hands.

"I am available, but sure I can be your gayfriend," Blaine answered as he brought Maria's hands to his lips. "But, then I wouldn't have anyone to trade for you."

"It's just as well, I don't think I am young enough for you," Maria joked back. "You must be Rachel's little brother Blaine."

"Yes, I am."

"Hi Blaine," Carlos shook his hand. "Hi Mr. Lopez."

"You can call me Carlos and you can call Maria later when you get someone to trade for her." He snickered. Blaine already liked them. They are as free spirited as his own parents. "Shall we go to the backyard?"

They all followed Carlos and Maria to the backyard. Santana carried the twins, while Rachel scowled at her for doing so. She thought Santana was going to spoil them. She walked beside Tony and lagged in order to talk with him.

"So, how are you holding up? Still want to beat her up?" She asked jokingly.

"Hey, I am against beating women. But no, not yet," he answered. "I am still checking her out. Her parents are hilarious though."

"Yes, they are. I like them too. It looks like they like all of you as well."

"Yeah, they are nice fols. Sorta like Grandpa and Papa. Are we going to their house for Easter tomorrow?

"Of course, that's why we're meeting Santana's family today. She thought it would be better for all of us if we left Easter with our own traditions." Tony was again surprised. He was sure they were probably going to spend Easter with Santana's famly.

They reached the backyard and more introductions were made. Penelope introuduced her husband, Sam, their children and grandchildred. Marley introduced her and her husband, Ryder and their children. Noah introduced his wife, Brittany and their children. Santana and Rachel were enjoying the scene.

Ally made friends with Marley's daughter, Bianca, Sarah and Christina and Noah's son Angelo. They were about the same ages.

Anthony was in turn attempting to make friends with Noah's daughter Kitty and his eldest son Stephen as well as Marley's sons Brendan and Jason. Despite his reservations, Tony was actually enjoying himself. He found that the boys were also into football and that they'd played against each other at one time while the other boys were in high school. He found out that Katherine who liked to be called Kitty because his aunt name was also Katherine played for the powder puff team and was in the swim team.

The twins were enjoying themselves playing with Penelope's grandkids and making a fuss over baby Angelica. The rest of the adults were all enganged in conversations mostly trying to learn about each other.

"Penelope, you didn't tell us where Riley went," asks Marley.

"You know that youngest son of mine. He's probably out with his friends."

"Ah, so someone is following his uncle Noah's footsteps eh?" commented Marley.

"I didn't turn out so bad did I?" Noah joked.

"Only because Brittany straightened you out," interjected Santana.

"Oh, no. Here we go again," sighed Katherine, Penelope's eldest.

"Sorry, you guys. Every time these two gang uncle Noah up, they always try to see who gets in the most points against each other," interjected Serena, Penelope's youngest daughter.

"Oh, don't worry about it," assured Rachel. "I've already witnessed one of these sessions."

"I find it refreshing myself. It is much more fun with more people than just the two of us. Although now we have Ally and Tony to banter with it's not the same when you want to make adult innuendos but you can't because you're just conscious of their age."

"So, you two are used to all this picking each other, that's great. So, we don't have to apologize for these people. No holds barred?"

"Absolutely," replied Rachel. Ryder noticed the younger people playing catch with the football.

"Hey, I see the kids throwing the football, let's show them what the older people are made off," remarked Ryder. "We can bring out the flags and play flag football."

"Good idea, we need to work up our appetite for papi's barbecue and all that food mami and the ladies are cooking up," answered Noah.

"Are you in Blaine?" asked Santana.

"You bet. I haven't played a game of football for quite a while," Blaine answered.

"What about you Finn, you joining us?" asked Noah who knows he'd rather be barbecuing that playing some kind of sport.

"Nah, I'll just help papi with the barbecue. Why don't you pull Artie and Mike over there." He pointed at his son-in-laws playing with the younger children.

Noah walked over to the play area and asked Mike and Artie if they wanted to play. They all agreed and approached the teenagers.

"Hey guys, and gal (meaning Kitty), how about a game of flag football?" dared Noah.

"Yeah," replied Stephen without hesitating.

"I don't know," answered Brendan.

"What's the matter, afraid of your old man gonna beat you young people," dared Ryder.

"Well, since you put it that way, it's because we don't want to see you get hurt," answered Brendan. "What do you say guys?" he asked the rest of the gang, "Tony can quarterback for us, right Tony."

"Alright," Tony answerd with resignation.

"Alright, come on San help me get the flags." Ryder commanded.

They brought the flags back and put them on. The teens decided to let the "old men"go first. The "old men" of course accepted it and the game began. They were off to a strong start, but the inteception by Jason prevented them from getting the touchdown. The teens received their first down near the older team's goal marked by the big Oak tree.

Tony looked at Mike who was huge and in the process of rushing toward him, he decided to run with the ball instead throwing. Ryder stopped him mid-field. They stopped and huddled.

"Look," Tony started to explain. "I noticed before Mile started rushing at me that they weren't really guarding Kitty or Angelo as much as your bigger guys (he pointed to Stephen, Brendan and Jason), so I am going to be looking for the both of you (he pointed to Kitty and Angelo). Whoever is more open will be getting the ball, so keep an eye on the ball."

"Sounds good," answered Angelo.

"Okay, Stephen. I am going to run a fake with you. And Brendan and Jason try to keep your cousin Mike away from me long enough for me to throw the ball. Break!"

They ran the play as Tony outlined and was only a few yards from the goal. Tony threw the ball to Kitty. That time Blaine grabbed Kitty's flag before she could run off with the ball. The next play was a touch down for the teens. Tony handed it off to Brendan and he was able to run past Mike and Artie easily.

The teens were excited at that point, but the older team came on strong and got their first touchdown too. It was a play greatly executed by Santana. She threw a winning pass to Blaine. Tony noticed Kitty was a little dazed when she would watch Blaine, so he decided to let Angelo and Kitty trade. Even though Angelo was a lot shorter than Blain, at least he won't be daydreaming next to his Uncle Blaine.

Kitty of course didn't argue or else her brothers and cousins would tease her. The next play would have been perfect if Kitty hadn't tripped and fell on Tony. Tony ran with the ball again, but instead of getting to the goal, Kitty tripped and fell on top of him while trying to push her dad away. Everyone gathered to see if Tony was okay. Rachel, Ally, and the rest of the ladies cheering on the sidelines ran to see if Tony was okay. Kitty was already above Tony trying to wake him.

"Tony, honey are you hurt?" asked Rachel. Tony opened his eyes.

"Hey, what's everyone doing over here? Haven't you ever seen a football player go down before?" he joked. Kitty was relieved she didn't hurt him too seriously.

"You gave us a scare there for a second," answered Kitty holding out her hand to help him up.

"Man, Kitty you sure can tackle," he joed as he took her hand to stand up.

"You sure you're okay?" asked Rachel still a bit concerned.

"I'm sure mom. Kitty just caught me by surprise." Everyone started to walk back to their positions when Finn came to call them to eat.

"So I guess this means we tie?" Ryder asked.

"Not on your life, dad. We still have the second half after we eat so that we can burn off some of the food," corrected jason.

Ryder grabbed his two boys by the shoulders and walked back to the tables. Noah raced with his kids to the table. Rachel and Santana helds hands walking slowly to the table. Blaine, Artie and Mike walked together discussing the strategy for the next game. Tony walked by himself longing for a father.

He saw the way Noah and Ryder played with their kids and wished he had a dad that would do the same. His resentment was again mouting higher than before. He resented his dad for not being there. He rested his mom for trying to replace his dad with Santana. He was just filled with anger. His world was changing and he didn't seem to have control over any of it. All he could was be angry and just went with the flow.

**A/N: Hello all. Thanks for your reviews. I am glad you are enjoying this just as much as I am. Ciao – 'till next time!**


	12. Meet the Family

_**Summary : Rachel lost her husband and never once thought about love. She was busy with her four kids and lived with memory of her love, until she bumps into Santana. Santana is a self-made billionaire who'd been unlucky in love until**__**she met Rachel.**_

_**A/N: Sorry it took me some time to update, I had a family matter to do – so enjoy the chapter! Let me know if you have questions or suggestions.**_

After eating, Tony broke away from the crowd. He went towards the tree and sat there staring at his mom enjoying herself in Santana's company as well as his family. After a few minutes of solitary confinement, Kitty walked towards him. She was the most observant of all the cousins and usually the only one out of them who knew what goes on within the family circle. She seemed the quietest of them all, but that was only because she was busy observing everyone and everything.

"Better close your eyes Cyclops, those darts coming out of them are bound to hit someone," she joked.

"Huh?" Tony asked puzzled.

"If looks could kill, those people you are looking at would be dead." Tony turned his head to the other side of the yard.

"What are you talking about?" He tried to conceal his feelings.

"So I guess you are not taking this relationshop very well, huh?" Tony didn't answer so Kitty continues.  
"You know she's not a bad guy. I am actually happy for her after all the crap she went through."

"Oh, come on. what kind of crap could she have gone through."

"None of the adults know that us "younger" people know what happened to her, but I should tell you this is the happiest we've seen her for almost a decade. Your mom must be an extraordinary woman to pull her out of such misery."

"What do you mean? I don't believe he'd have gone through anything more painful than losing someone you love."

"Well, maybe not losing the one you love, but maybe there is some kind of pain one goes through when they are betrayed by people they trust and who supposedly love them. You should have seen her before she met your mom. She was a wreck. She was like a scrooge, except to us kids. she would snap at people at work and be gloomy even during holidays and any type of celebration. Kind of like how you are right now. Sulking in the corner away from everyone. She practically went on a woman-hating spree. She would love them and leave them so to speak. She was taking out what happened to her on every woman who would be remotely interested in her. That happened for a year or so and then she got tired of it and just became a recluse who would only attend to her business dealings."

"What could she have possibly gone through that was more painful than a loved one dying on you?"

"Hey, I am not saying that it's worse than having your loved one die, but for someone like her I think it's kind of demoralizing and embarrassing."

"Would you quit it? I just can't picture her that way."

"Oh yeah, even about a few weeks ago when she was looking for your mom, she was so frustrated she would practically be over here at my grandparents house everyday. This is where she goes whenever she had problems. My grandparents usually help her out."

"How do you know all this?"

"I listen. Sometimes they think teens won't listen, but when the adults are talking they have some interesting stories especially about our family. Anyway, I also heard that aunty Santana brought your mom over here on their first date. Now, tell me would you bring a girl home to meet your parents on your first date unless you're really head over heals crazy over her?"

"I guess not, but maybe she just wanted to impress her by bringing her to this nice big house instead of her skanky apartment in the city."

"Dude, if she wanted to impress her in that way, she would have brought her home to her place. I guess you haven't seen her place if you think this is huge."

"I don't know. Anyway, what happened to her that she became a scrooge?"

"She came home early from a business trip and found her fiance, her best friend, her best friend's girlfriend who also happens to be one of her good friends in bed together naked with a video camera recording their play time. I'll let your imagination figure out what they were doing. Needless to say she broke off the engagement, and broke her friendship with his best friend of over 10 years."

"She and uncle Blaine should talk." Tony said a little calmer now. He didn't see Santana as a monster trying to take his mom away from him anymore, but as a human being who had feelings. It didn't mean he had their blessing completely, but it was a start.

"What do you mean? He doesn't have a girlfriend or a wife!?"

"Hmm. I knew you kinda have a crush on him. And he's gay sweety just forget it."

"Oh, well that's cool. Come on, I am just saying he doesnt have a girlfriend – boyfriend or husband at his age."

"Yeah right, and pigs fly. I saw you gawking at him when you were supposed to be guarding him or trying to get away from him."

"Oh come on. i was not gawking. Okay I admit it. I think he's a handsome man. Just promise not to tell my cousins or brothers or else I will have to withstand their constant teasing. They do that to Bianca, Sarah and Christina. They like it though, but I don't."

"Okay, promise. Just as long as you don't tell my mom how I was looking at them. I promised I would give Santana a chance and so far I haven't been good at keeping that promise."

"No problem. You jsut need time to get to know her. And I think your mom saw you over here staring at them. I volunteered to come keep you company before I do something totally embarrassing in front of your uncle."

"You know, you have a long ways to go before you can even legally go out with him, and that's if you can turn him straight." He said trying to hold his laughter.

"I am almost 17. I turn seventeen in a few months. At eighteen I am considered an adult and I can date whoever I want, right? And that doesn't matter anymore because yeah he is gay." She sighed.

"Okay let's say that my uncle was turning straight back, you guys have over ten years difference in age."

"And, is there a problem with that? Aunt Penelope is about 13 years younger than uncle Finn. People just can't help whom they fall in love with. You know when you find that special person, you'd better hold on to them or your chance may not come again. That's what happened to my cousin Christina. I don't think she loves Gilbert as much as she did her first boyfriend."

"What do you mean?"

"Yeah, it wasn't long ago. They were perfect for each other and they loved each other. Her first-born is his child not Gilbert's. But the guy's parents had other plans for him. They wanted him to finish college first, even when they knew they were going to be grandparents. They rejected Christina and threatened to disown him if he'd marry her. See they already arranged a marriage for him without telling him. The stupid guy followed his parents' will instead of his heart and his will. That's why I say, if you find the person who really makes you happy and you both love each other, stay with the person no matter it takes."

"So, you believe that my mom and you Aunty Santana are made for each other?"

"Yup, I haven't seen two people so in love with each other besides my mom and dad."

"You're a hopeless romantic aren't you? You probably read those romance novels in your spare time."

"And what's wrong with those books? They can be really inspiring, informative and interesting. It's not all about sex you know. There is adventure, mystery and history in those novels. It just depends on which ones you read."

"Don't get all riled up. I am just saying that you read them. Ally reads them too. I see them lying around the house sometimes. She's like you, a romantic, but I think worse than you since she is into all the acting and stuff like that."

"Anyway, I am just saying you have to be open minded with your mom's relationshop. She also has her own life. Her life doesn't revolve around you and your brothers and sisters. Well, it does, but when you've all moved out and have your own lives, whom does she have left? Have you even thought of that?"

"I guess not. I was just busy being angry. Wow, you're a lot easier to talk to than Harmony."

"And that would be your girlfriend?"

"Yeah."

"Let me guess, she's a cheerleader with blonde hair."

"She's a cheerleader, but she's brunette. What do you have against blondes? Your hair is blonde."

"At least it's naturally blonde and not dyed like some other people I know."

"You must have trouble with some blonde cheerleaders in your school."

"Yeah, most of the jocks in our school are going out with the cheerleaders and they are mostly blondes."

"Well, I guess I am not like most jocks?"

"Nah, I guess not. So, do you want to train some time. I can come over or you can come over."

"Sure, you just want to come over to see my Uncle Bla –" Tony's sentence was cut short by Blaine and Santana's appearance. "Uncle Blaine!" Kitty socked him on the arm.

"Hey, careful. You already tackled me remeber." He joked.

"We came here to ask if you two wanted to join the basketball game. We want to continue our football game but the "old men" decided to finish it off with basketball." Started Blaine.

"Sure," jumped Kitty without hesitation. She gave Tony a look to keep quiet.

"We'll join you in a minute. I want to talk to Anthony, that is it it's okay with you?" she asked Tony. Kitty and Blaine walked towards the basketball court without even waiting for Tony's response.

"Yeah, and you can call me Tony. Anthony sounds so formal. It's usually what mom cals me when she's miffed about something I did."

"Hmm. Hard to believe you've done anything wrong the way she talks about you."

"We've had our share. But that's probably not what you want to talk to me about."

"No. Truce?"

"Sure."

"Well, First of all, I just wanted to make it clear to you that I am not trying to take your dad's place not matter what happens between your mom and I, your dad will always be your dad. I just want you to give me a chance and be your friend." Tony remained quiet. "Even if your mom sometimes hesitates to be with me because she feels guilty. She feels guilty that she is going out with me without your approval or support. Secondly, I am crazy about your mom. I would do anything to keep her in my life, but even I know that to her, her children comes first. I respect that. That is why I would like us to be friends instead of enemies."

"So, what happens if I don't approve?"

"To tell you the truth, I am hoping you will because I don't think I could ever picture my life without her now that she's in it."

"You love her?"

"Yes I do, with all my heart, body and soul."

"How do you know?"

"There are some feeling s inside that is hard to explain. I feel completeness and peace. I feel that she gives me life. I feel all these deep within my heart and I know that anyone who has ever loved the way I do will know what I feel."

"Have you told her you loved her?"

"No, I don't want to scare her. She's still trying to deal with having me in her life along with all of you."

"You want to marry her, don't you?"

"You are smart. I would like to. But that will all depend on all of you."

"What do you mean?"

"I don't think your mother will ever make any type of major decision like marriage without consulting her family."

"I guess you're right. You've gotten to know her a lot this past few weeks."

"Not what you think. We've only talked. She mostly talks about you and your brother and sisters. That's how I know she wouldn't do anything so major without fist asking all of you or getting your blessing. Oh and we've kissed."

"Boy this sucks!"

"What does?"

"If I don't make an effort to like you, mom will probably hate me."

"I don't think she'll hate you, but she wants us all to get alont. That's all I am asking for. I know you feel guilty too if you try to be friends with me. You probably feel like you're betraying father's memory or something like that."

That took Tony by surprised. How could Santana have known about the one thing that was keeping him from being friends with her?

"Don't do that. Don't feel guilty. In your heart you know your dad will always be your dad. Accepting me as your friend is like accepting anyone as your friend, like you and Kitty. You seemed to have become friends."

"That's different."

"Not really. If you would only remove the fact that your mom and I have a relationship, I am just like anyone else." Tony started to relax. "I am not asking for an instant friendship. It will probably take us a while, but I am telling you right now. I am not a quitter. I didn't quit looking for your mom after I bumped into her in the restaurant and I am not about to start now."

"Okay, just promise me one thing. Don't hurt her or leave her or die on her."

"Oh, Tony. I can't promise that I won't die before her. That is up to fate but I can promise you that I will never hurt her or leave her on my own accord. She is my life."

"I guess two out of three is not bad. You know, you and Uncle Blaine have something in common. Maybe you can help him get over a problem."

"What do you mean?"

"Oh, just mention fiance. He'll know what you're talking about." Santana was surprised.

"You know, your mom told me the same thing. Did she tell you what happened to me?"

"No, I just heard during those adult conversation." He didn't want to get Kitty in trouble.

"I'll catch up with him later. So, what do you say we play some hoops?"

"As long as there is no tackling," he joked.

Santana laughed and tapped him on the shoulder, as she would do good buddy or a son. Tony liked the feeling. Maybe she was not as bad as he first thought. Maybe they could be friends.

They day ended with the teens winning the basketball game, of course. They had the advantage of youth and star basketball players such as Stephen and Ally. They were all seaty and tired towards the end of the day. They shared dinner and a little more conversation before everyone decided to head off into their own directions.

Rachel offered to help Maria clean up, but she refused. She told her to take the twins home since they look like they needed to rest. The bonding of the two families was successful. They all got along so well it was as if they've always known each other. Even Tony and Santana hit it off after the little speech Santana gave him. Tony still had reservations because of his guilt, but they are off on a great start from this point. Rachel couldn't be any happier that day. Santana and her son were getting along better.

_**To be continued –**_

_**A/N: Thanks for your reviews. Just so you know it's what keeps this story going. You are all my inspiration in one form or another.**_


	13. Traditions

_**Summary : Rachel lost her husband and never once thought about love. She was busy with her four kids and lived with memory of her love, until she bumps into Santana. Santana is a self-made billionaire who'd been unlucky in love until**__**she met Rachel.**_

_**A/N: Sorry it took me some time to update, I had a family matter to do – so enjoy the chapter! Let me know if you have questions or suggestions.**_

The next day they spent Easter i their own way with their own families. Although, Santana had to get her daily dose of Rachel, she had to call her on the web phone and ask permission to stop by for a little while. That broke the tradition a bit, but a change that was welcomed by Rachel. Rachel gave her directions to her parents' place and told Santana to meet them there, of course this was after asking the kids if she could come and break a little of their tradition. They all agreed, even Tony who hesitated just a little bit.

"Hi," Santana said with a huge smile as Rachel opened the door to her parents' house.

"Hi, yourself," she answered and then gave her a well deserving kiss for the smile that greeted her.

Santana gave her a little package and walked in. As usual, the twins ran up and jumped on her excitedly. It was becoming a custom for them. They already believed her with their mom, but it was still a secret between just the two of them. Santana returned their kisses happily. She too had grown very fond of the two. She only hoped that Tony and Ally would accept her as the twins have. Ally still had her moments, but not as much as Tony. She was still on a polite, but on a more comfortable basis with Santana, while Tony was still on a polite basis.

"Come meet Papa and Grandpa," Jay and Kay both told her while pulling her hand towards the backyard. The backyard was not as big as Santana's parents', but it was full of flowers, herbs and vegetables, play area and gathering place with a barbecue grill. "Papa, Grandpa look who's here?"

"Hello, Mr. Berry, Mr. Berry," Santana greeted them as she extended her hand. Hiram pushed her hand aside and gave her a hug.

"So, you're the one that brought a smile back on my Rachie's face?" He whispered. "Welcome to the family."

"Hey," Lerroy practically screamed while he took Santana's hand and gave it a "manly" shake. "It's about time you came by, I was beginning to think Rachie made you up, but then I'd be lying. Ain't seen that girl this happy in many years."

It was Rachel's turn to become embarrassed. She was turning red all over.

"It's really a pleasure to meet you both. Thank you for letting me stop by on short notice."

"Oh, please. Easter is all about spending time with family and people you care about." Hiram replied. "And, don't be so formal. You can call me dad."

"And you can call me other dad or whatever you'd like." That brought laughter in the room. "Might as well get used to it huh?"

Tony didn't like what he was overhearing. But he just remained quiet at his little corner. How could they dismiss my dad so easily? These people just welcomed a total stranger into their house and asked him to call them that. What does Santana have over them? His resentment was mounting once more. His encouter with Santana wasn't that bad yesterday, but today to have his grandparents just welcome her into the family with open arms was too much. Of course, Santana noticed the way he was rolling his eyes and so did Rachel and Blaine. They were all just waiting to see what he was going to do. "Why don't we go into the dining room and eat?" Hiram asked, "Everyone, come along. Let's all say grace before we eat shall we? Darling, why don't you lead the prayer." He asked Leroy. Leroy obliged.

After the meal, Blaine asked Santana to help Tony and himself with hiding the eggs in the backyard. They had different color eggs with pastel colors and creative decorations. Others had rainbow colors and there were also plastic eggs with surprises inside. Since only the twins were the only ones who do the egg hunting those days, they didn't make as much as they used to.

"Blaine, do you mind if I ask you something?" Santana asked as they walked, while Tony stayed at a distance from them.

"Sure, go ahead. Did my sister do something weird already?"

"No, nothing like that. It's just that she and Tony had mentioned something we had in common."

"Oh, yeah. Besides being awesome, tan and devilishly handsome?" he joked.

"Well, that's true," she joked back. "But that wasn't it. They told me all I had to do was say fiance and you would know what I am talking about." Santana saw the murderous look in Blaine's eyes. She finally understood what Rachel and Tony meant even before she heard Blaine's aswer.

"Did you catch your fiance cheating on you too?" He asked half jokingly with a slight sound of anger.

"As a matter of fact, yes." That took Blaine by surprise. He didn't understand why anyone would cheat on someone as successful and good looking as Santana.

"You're kidding right?"

"Very serious. I think I had the same look that I just saw in your eyes when I said fiance about ten years ago."

"Well, the incident happened a few months ago and I can't let it go."

"Believe me, it's hard. It took me a while to finally get over it, built a good business in the process. But, I don't think I would recomend what I did to anyone else." They both sat on the ground next to the cherry tree.

"Why is that?"

"It was a lonely world. True, I had my family, but I didn't have anyone worth sharing my life with, of course until I bumped into your sister."

"So, what do you recommend?"

"Well, there is one thing. Forget about the man and move on. He's not worth wasting your anger on. You'll lose a lot of time focusing on your hurt and anger, that you may lose sight of what really matters to you. I think I would have lost my family had they not been patient and truly hopeful that I will someday heal and find someone to make me happy."

"Well, I think I did find someone who make me happy and would have made my whole world wonderful. Like the way you feel about Rachel." Tony started moving closer trying to hear what these two people are saying.

"Yeah, what happened?" They both noticed Tony and asked him to have a seat next to them.

"Well, I haven't really thought about him in a while until I saw your face the day you picked Rachel up on your first day. I was so engulfed in my hate and anger. Before the incident I used to think of her quite often even whe I had decided to marry. I know it's crazy, but to tell you the truth, I was a little relieved that my engangement was over. Tony, don't you dare tell your mom what I am telling you and Santana right now. She doesn't eve know about him or maybe she had a feeling there was something wrong when I came back from an assignment a few years back, but I didn't tell her then, and I don't think I can tell her now. So this is between us."

"Promise Uncle Blaine."

"You have my word on that Blaine. Have you tried looking for this man?"

"I have. I've tried calling the last phone number I had of him and it was disconnected. I even stopped by his apartment once and he's not there anymore. it's like he just dropped from the face of the earth."

"I have some connections, would you like me to try?"

"I've tried my connections too, and they couldn't find him."

"You know Blaine, I am positve as I am sitting her next to you and Tony, that you will find hi one of these days. Maybe it's not the right time yet. You need to work through this anger first and one day, out of the blue he's going to be right in front of you. Fate has its way of working out for the best for all of us. Believe me, I am living proof. I thik if I hadn't bumped into Rachel at the restaurant when I did, I would have become one of those grumpy scrooges." Tony was again regaiing his positive feelings for Santana.

"Didn't you almost lose my mom?"

"That was pure stupidity on my part. But like I said, fate has its way of working out for the best. If we weren't meant to meet again, she wouldn't have been in my office that day to take my picture."

"So you two believe in fate?"

"I do, I don't know about Blaine. I believe there is someone out there for everyone and when you find that person, it's almost like a revelation on your soul. Listen to me, I am starting to sound like my mami and papi."

"Do they believe in fate too?"

"Well, they believe in God and prayers. To them God is the one who basically planned out our fate, but our destiny will be determined by the choices we make. Our life is like a road that has many intersections and sometimes detours, but somehow converges into one big highway."

"That's the way my parents think too. They even say, sometimes the pavement on the road gets rough, but there are workiers who work on the road to make it smooth again. The workers are the angels in a sense. When I was younger, I never thought about those things, but as I get older I start to wonder. I wonder about the what ifs and look back on my life and think about how different my life would be now had I not made the decisions I made in those point in time. Of course, we can't o back and undo those decisions, but we can certainly leart from them."

"You two are getting too serious for me," Tony joked to lighten the mood. "Have you guys finished hiding the eggs? I think the twins are going to come out here soon."

"I'm on it," answered Blaine. He went on his way to hide the rest of the eggs.

"Oh, yeah. I almost forgot. I have to get going. I promised my parents I would at least be there before dinner."

"So, you won't stay and watch the twins look for the eggs?" asked Toy disappointed.

"I think maybe, I'll leave some traditions alone for now." She answered. She understood how sacred traditions were and she'd heard Rachel talk about how much Tony liked keepig traditions. Tony was surprised at his answer and his understand.

"Well, traditions can be altered," he offered.

"Maybe some other time, Tony. Thanks for offering though. It really means a lot to me." Santana answered and put her hand on Tony's shoulder. "I'd better get going. How do you feel about skiing?"

"Skiing is alright. I prefer snowboarding."

"Well, what about we all go next weekend?"

"Where? Snow is already melting."

"Ah, but not in Colorado."

"Are you serious!?"

"Very."

"That would be awesome!"

"Well, let's not get our hopes up. I still haven't asked your mom."

"I'm sure she'll say yes. She loves to ski."

"I will ask her. I'll let you know what she says."

"Okay. Well, I'll see you when I see you." Tony was a little more relaxed.

He finally noticed that Santana was making an effort to try to make friends with him, but careful not to overstep his bounds. He saw that Santana respected his mom and even if his mom said no, at least he knew that Santana wouldn't just make decisions without going through his mom.

As soon as Santana walked into the back door, the twins practically tackled her.

"Are the eggs hidden?" They shrieked.

"No, not yet, your uncle Blaine is hiding the rest of the eggs. I came in to say good-bye."

"Aw, you mean you're not going to help us ind the eggs," whined Kay.

"Sorry sweetie, I promised my mami and papi I would get back by dinner, so I have to o now."

"But who's going to help me find the eggs?" asked Jay.

"I'm sure your mom, papa or grandpa will help you. Even Ally can help you."

"Yeah, but they don't know where you hid the eggs," whispered Jay.

"And that's why I can't really help you cause then that would be cheating wouldn't it?"

"I guess, but Kay always finds more eggs than me."

"That's okay. Remember, today she might find more than you, but next time you might find more than her. Sometimes we can't all win at the same time. Okay."

"Oh, okay."

"Okay, so I'll see you two next time I visit?" She didn't like giving definite times because of her schedule and Rachel's schedule. She didn't want to have to disappoint them if she couldn't go when she'd told them she would go.

"Okay." They both answered ad gave her a wet kisses one on each cheek. Santana was enjoying herself immensely. She felt like the twins were like her own kids.

"Now where's your mom?"

"In the living room with Papa and Grandpa..." but she was already standing at the doorway. She'd been watching Santana interact with the twins.

"Actually I am right here," she decided to let her presence be known.

"Hi beautiful, how long have you been standing there?"

"Oh, not long. I just came here to make sure they weren't peeking and didn't want to interrupt. Come you two, go with papa and grandpa or else no hunting for eggs." The twins left without objections. They didn't want to jeopardize their egg-hunting contest. Rachel put her arms around Santana's neck and gave her a light kiss.

"What did I do to deserve that?"

"You handled the twins very well. They didn't start throwing tantrums and they didn't make a big deal about who will have more eggs."

"Hmm. Now I know what to do to get kisses from you. What about a see you later kiss since I have to go."

"Well. Since you are going to leave, I guess another kiss would be fine." Instead of a light peck on the lips, their kiss becae instantly heated. Santana had to stop their kiss before she would not be able to control herself.

"I'd better go or else," she blurted out of breath. "I'll call you later. I wanted to ask you about skiing." Rachel walked her to the door after she bid Leroy and Hiram good-bye.


	14. Second Chances

_**Summary : Rachel lost her husband and never once thought about love. She was busy with her four kids and lived with memory of her love, until she bumps into Santana. Santana is a self-made billionaire who'd been unlucky in love until**__**she met Rachel.**_

_**A/N: Sorry it took me some time to update, I had a family matter to do – so enjoy the chapter! Let me know if you have questions or suggestions.**_

The rest of the day went well. The twins found the same amount of eggs thanks to Tony and Blaine. They even had a bonus egg each that Santana left behind. She'd put names on it in order to be fair. Inside they found what looked like custom made bracelets with their names on it. They were so excited they forgot all about the other eggs. They were comparing to see what differences were and found that only their names different on the bracelet.

They both started playing with it as if it were some type of communicator that only the two of them can understand. Rachel didn't bother trying to take the bracelets away from them. Her fathers told her to let Santana have her fun since she looked like she was enjoying herself with the twins. While they were washing and putting away the dishes, Leroy and Rachel then discuss Santana's gift while they washing the dishes.

"But, dad I don't want the twins to become materialistic and then to expect gifts from her all the time. I want them to like her for who she is and not for what she can give them."

"Oh Rachie, I don't think she needs to give the twins anything to win them over. She already has. The gifts are just extra that goes with the affections that I am sure you've noticed. Besides, she can afford it and I think she doesn't want to hold back. She's going all out because you and the kids are important to her. She wants to chersih you and spoil you as much as she can. Be thankful and accepth her gifts with open arms."

"I don't want her to think I like her for her gifts and I certainly do not want the kids to think that way."

"They're smart kids. I am sure they see the way you two look at each other and the way you act around one another. I am sure they know that even without the gifts, you will love Santana the same."

"Dad, what makes you so sure that I love her already?"

"Oh, please dear. I am old, but I am certainly not blind. I see the way she looks at you and the way you look at her. It sort of reminds me of your daddy and I."

"So, you are telling me how I feel about the woman I am seeing before I even know."

"You know it already. You are just afraid to accept it completely. Still feeling guilty about Charles I gather." Rachel was just so amazed how well her dad can read her. It's hard to keep anything from him. This just showed how close her family was and she didn't want to even disrupt that. That was probably why she hesitated with dating after Charles died. But she just couldn't ignore Santana.

"How do you do that?"

"Do what?"

"Know what I am feeling or what my concerns are?"

"Dear, I am your parent. I have known you since you were a little baby. I have seen you through your ups and downs. I was with you when you had loved, I have seen you when you have lost, and I have seen you when you were giving birth. I think I have a pretty good idea what you must be experiencing. But I tell you this," he went closer to Rachel and whispered. "I have never seen the same emotions that you seem to be experiencing with Santana as with anyone else, not even Charles."

"Dad, stop it. You know I loved Charlie and part of me still does."

"I know darling, but you love Santana differently and I think it is because she's the other half of your being that your soul has been looking for."

"Okay dad, you can stop it now. You are starting to scare me."

"Don't be scared, sweetheart. Accept it and feel no guilt. Charlie is living in another world where he is only a part of you in memory. Don't let go of the memory either, but don't compare. Just feel what you feel and let the magic happen. You still have a lot of your life to live, don't deny yourself a second chance at happiness if it's offered to you. People rarely have a second chance at anything and to be able to love and be loved twice in your lifetime is the best thing that can ever happen to you."

Tony overheard everything that his mom and papi were discussing except for the whispers, but he caught enough to feel ashamed of the way he had been treating his mom. He finally realized that his mom did not fully disregard his dad; on the contrary, he knew that she was still afraid to let herself be completely free of his dad's memory. That made him feel better, but at the same time horrible.

The end of his grandfather's speech seemed to ring in his head. Santana was a second chance for his mom to find happiness and love. He can't go around trying to create friction between he and Santana or his mom. He decided to do more than his best to try to get his mom to stop feeling guilty about his dad. He loved him, but his papi was right. His dad wasn't there to protect his mom, to hold his mom, to comfort his mom or even to share his love for his mom. Even he was no longer available to talk to and advice him when he sought an advice. He was right. His dad only belonged in his memory, his mom's memory, and everyone's memory. He has to learn to let go too. He stayed where he was behind the door a little longer.

"Dad, you always know the right things to say. I will try my best."

"You seem to be guarded when Santana is not around, but all your guard goes away when you are near her or even just talking to her on the phone. Like I said, don't be afraid. I know you're worried about Tony and how he's handling the new person in your life, but don't worry too much.

Tony's ears were burnin. He felt bad. He didn't realize everyone noticed his rebellious ways towards his mom's new relationship. Leroy continued as if he knew Tony was listening.

"You know he's a bright boy. He just misses his dad. Just give him time."

"Yeah, thank you dad." Rachel said and pulled her father on the embrace.

Tony dicided to let his presence known.

"Ahem. We're waiting for you two so that we can all go outside and look at the sunset."

"Hi, sweetie. How long have you been standing there?"

"Not long," he lied. "Why, were you talking about me?"

"A little, were your ears burning?" asked Leroy.

He noticed the slight blush from Tony and knew very well that he most likely heard every single word. He thought it couldn't have happened better than if he planned it himself. He decided to just let him believe he didn't know. Rachel might have caught the little white lie as well, but she decided she'd let it go for now since she wasn't sure exactly which parts he heard.

"Well, then darling, will you grab my sweater for me?"

"I'll see you two outside. I am going to grab the twins' sweater."

"Already have it here." Tony held out her sweater and handed it to his grandfather.

"Well aren't you the nicest young man ever,"

"Only learn from the best papa."

"Oh and who would that be?"

"You and Grandpa of course."

"See, now you know why I kept your grandpa after all these years," he joked.

As they were sitting down watching the sunset, they had conversations left and right. They shared what they wanted to share with the faily. It was almost as if thanksgiving came early and nearly everyone had something to be thankful for. The twins were on either side of Rachel in the swing chair and falling fast asleep. Hiram and Leroy sat on the wicker love seat, one of their favorites and Blaine, Tony and Alli sat on the individual wicker chairs. The sun turned crimson red and then slowly descended behind the mountains.

"What happened to Auntie Quinn and Mercedes anyway?" asked Ally.

"Oh, didn't I tell you. They called Friday and told me she and Mercedes had this weekend in Calistoga springs voucher and they decided to use it while things are a little slow at the magazine and Mercedes didn't have too many clients lined up."

"Oh, I thought they just forgot about Easter Sunday with us."

"Oh, no sweetie. It's my fault. I forgot to tell everyone else her message and I also forgot to give you her Easter cards. They're in my purse. Do you mind getting it for me?"

"Okay," she practically jumped off her chair and walked fast inside to retrieve their Easter cards.

She liked receiving Easter cards from her godmother. It usually meant she had extra spending money. It was almost like having a birthday. She usually gave her more mney than the others to make her feel special since she was her godchild, but not too much to be fair with the other kids. ally returned with a huge smile on her face as she distributed everyone's card. The adults' cards of course did not contain monetary units, only wishes for the occasions, but Quinn never gorgot anyone's birthday or any holiday. She was after all part of their family.

"So, mom did Santana mention anything about skiing?" asked Tony curously. "No, she just said she wanted to ask me something later when she called. Do you know anything I don't?"

"No, she sort of just asked if you liked to ski and I told her you did."

"Uh – hmm. And what else?"

"That's it mom. I guess we'll have to wait until after you talk to him later?" This was a change that Rachel had been waiting for. Tony was no longer angry when Santana's name came up and he actually brought it up himself.

"What do you mean we?"

"I meant you. Slip of the tongue, that's all." Rachel was becoming curious. It seemed her son who used to think that Santana was a monster, the king of jerks, was keeping little secrets with him. This made Rachel smile inside. But, she had to wait to hear from Santana to find out what they were up to.


	15. Slip of the Tongue

_**Summary : Rachel lost her husband and never once thought about love. She was busy with her four kids and lived with memory of her love, until she bumps into Santana. Santana is a self-made billionaire who'd been unlucky in love until**__**she met Rachel.**_

"Mo, phone!" screaed Ally from her room.

"Got it. Thanks." Rachel screamed back. "Hello?"

"Hi, beautiful I miss you," Santana said. "Will you turn your phone cam on so I can see you?"

"Hi, yourself," she answered clumsily. She was taken by surprise at the tenderness in her voice. "Hold on. let me walk to the twins' room and tuck them in first. I a sure they want to say goodnight."

In fact, they begged to stay up until Santana called so that they could say goodnight.

"Hey, sweetie Santana wants to say goodnight." Jay and Kay both sat up. Jay had been sleeping in his sister's bed ever since he found out Anthony was going to move to the den. They practically grabbed the phone from their mom.

"Goodnight Santana," Kay gleefully said. "I love you."

"Oh, sweetie. I love you too. You have a good night and some sweet dreams." Santana answered almost choking on the tears filling her eyes.

She'd never felt this emotional before. Although the newness took some time getting used to, she was enjoying every bit of it. She now only wished she was with Rachel tucking them both in. Jay grabbed the phone from Kay.

"I love you Santana, good night." Rachel was surprised that the twins were already emotionally attached to Santana. She didn't want to reprimand them, but she was also confused on how quickly they were attaching themselves to her.

"I love you too, buddy. You keep your sister safe and sleep tight okay."

"I will. Don't worry." He handed Rachel the phone and kissed her goodnight as well.

"Hold on honey." She told Santana on the phone. "Good night sweetie." She told Kaylen. "I love you." She turned to Jay and gave him another kiss. "I love you." She whispered. "Okay, you two get some sleep." She turned her attention back to the phone with Santana as she walked back to her room. She turned on the phone cam and caught Santana wiping her eyes.

"Are you okay?"

"Oh, yeah. I just had something in my eyes."

"It's okay to say you were touched by what the twins' said you know. I must say I was surprised and touched by their actions tonight."

"Well, for me. I don't know. This is all new to me and I am not exactly sure how I should react. I don't know if it's okay with you for them to give their affections freely. I am just overwhelmed with emotions by their words."

"Truth be told. They begged me to stay up to say goodnight when you call and I am certainly not going to deprive them or force them to feel something they do not. If they say they love you then they love you and I can't change that. I don't want to change that. I love you and I want my kids to love you too."

Rachel almost kicked herself in the butt. She didn't want to reveal her feelings just yet, but for some reason she couldn't help it. But before she could say anything Santana was gone from the phone cam and the line went dead.

Rachel tried to call her back, but all she got was her answering service. She tried her cell phone and no answer as well. After 10 minutes of trying to call with no answer, she was ready to panic. She rushed downstairs and was about to put her seater on and grab her keys when there was a soft knock on her door.

"Who is it?"

"It's me, honey."

"Santana?"

"Yes, aren't you going to open the door? It's freezing out here." Rachel came out to see what all the fuss waas about and Rachel opened the door.

"Oh, it's you," was all Rachel said and went back to her room.

"Where are you going?" asked Santana.

"I was going to go to your place. I was worried when you hung up and I couldn't reach you on your cell phone."

"Oh, yeah. I left that at home." She smiled at her in pology.

"So I see." Rachel answered. Santana only had her sweatpants and a t-shirt.

"You were going to go out dressed like that?" Rachel just realized she only had her nightgown on.

"Well, no. I was going to put on a sweater, unlike you. What the hell were you thinking?"

"I had to hear you say what you told me on the phone and this time in person just so I can make sure I wasn't dreaming it."

Rachel was in for it now. She couldn't take back what she said but she didn't know that Santana would drive to her place at a neck breaking pace to hear it again. She tried to avert her attention.

"What did I say? I told you if the twins say they loved you then I can't change that."

"No, keep going. After that." Rachel decided she didn't want to play any more games.

"I love you?"

"I love you too, honey." Santana kissed her gently at first, but her attire and the lack of lights was too much for her. She had to end the kiss or end up taking her upstairs. "I have loved you since the first time I laid my eyes on you," she told her tenderly. Rachel was so touched by her honesty and her tenderness her eyes started to fill with tears.

"You know, I didn't mean for it to come out the way I said it."

"It doesn't matter. I have been waiting for you to say it. I didn't want to scare you by saying it first." Rachel pulled her towards the couch and turned on one of the lams. She knew that being in a low-lighted environment with Santana was dangerous for her. Little did she know that it was also quite dangerous for her as well. She would have had a hard time controlling certain physical reactions, well she was having a hard time controlling those things even in a brightly lit room, but she thought it would help her stay in control anyway.

"Maybe I should go upstairs and put on my robe?"

"Yeah, maybe you shoud." Santana smiled as Rachel walked upstairs. God she loved Rachel. She was such a sap when it came to her.

When Rachel came down, she saw something she thought she would never see for a long time. She saw Tony and Santana having a civil conversation. She wanted to listen for a while, but Tony spotted her as she reached the last step of the stairs.

"Hi, mom." He practically screamed out. They were talking about their ski plans and didn't want Rachel to find out just yet.

"Hi sweetie. I thought you were asleep already."

"I came down to get a glass of water and found Santana on the couch and decided to keep her company until you came back down." Rachel was getting suspicious. Tony caught her suspicious look and decided to excuse himself. "Well, I'd better go back to bed. 'Night Santana. 'Night mom." He said as he walked by his mom and gave her a kiss.

"Good night sweetie." Santana held out her hands to her and pulled Rachel to her lap."Okay, spill it."

"I don't know what you are talking about." Santana tried to act innocently.

:You know what I am talking about. You're conspiring with my son and I want to know what it's about."

"Ay dios mio, you're a very suspicious woman."

"That I am. Comes with the work I used to do. So, what was it you two were whispering about?"

"Oh, just some skiing idea."

"Uh-huh. Go on."

"Well, I promised I would run it by you first and you would have the final say."

"Final say to what?"

"To a ski trip to Colorado for the weekend?"

"You already got him excited over it, haven't you?"

"No, I mentioned that my family and I have a cabin over there and that maybe we could go skiing one weekedn. And he said he was free next weekend, so I said I would run it by you first. So what do you say? Are you up for a bit of skiing next weekend?"

"I don't know Santana. We usually do house cleaning during the weekend."

"Don't worry about it. I can get that taken care of including the laundry." Little did they know they had an audience near the top of the stairs, Tony and Ally were waiting for their mom's answer. Tony accidentally told Ally about the potential trip and she was already excited over it.

"You're not being fair. If I say so no, the kids will be angry at me and if I say yes they'll think you've got me eating out of the palm of your hands." The kids were shaking their heads hoping their mom would pick up on their reassurance.

"Well, I did tell Tony you have the final say. I am sure they'll understand."

"Yes, they will. But they will be mad at me for at least a week before they can comprehend."

"It's just this one time. It will be a little out of your weekly routine but you have to admit, if I will be part of your life and the kids' lives then you should be expecting little changes to your routine from now on."

"I guess you're right, but just do things gradually. I am not used to abrupt changes in my old age.

"Don't worry, I will try not to." Santana kissed her on the forehead. "So does it mean we are all going skiing next weekend?"

"Oh, all right."

"YES!" said Tony and Ally from the top of the stairs. Rachel jumped up from Santana's lap. She can feel her face blushing all the way to the roots of her hair.

"How long have you two been eavesdropping?" she tried to sound angry to cover her embarrassment.

"Not too long," answered Tony. "Can I take Harmony?"

"If he's taking Harmony, can I take one of my friends too?"

"You two wil have to ask Santana, I am just saying yes to her invitation." They both looked at Santana. It almost made her feel like a parent and that was her family asking her perission. She felt great, she wanted moments like this to happen for the rest of her life. She wanted to be part of their family and she wanted to add to this family.

"Well, on one condition. You have to ask their parents' perission. I will have to meet with their parents to make sure that it is okay with them and to let them get to know me. I am sure they would want that too. And, make sure your rooms are semi clean and your laundry all in one place thrusday night before we leave." Rachel was surprised by her conditions, it was as if Santana was reading her mind. She knew exacrly what she would have told them had she been the one to give the answer.

"Done," agreed the two almost instantly. They'd never gone skiing in Colorado. They'd always heard stories about Colorado Springs and Aspen but never actually been there.

Thursday night the following week the Collins houshold was up in an uproar trying to pack and get their skis ready for the next day. Rachel was helping the twins pack, get her things packed, clean the house a little while at the same time answer all the "Mom where's this" questions that her kids threw at her. In the middle of the chaos, Santana called.

"Hello." Rachel answered the phone.

"Hi honey, how was your day?"

"My day isn't over yet. The kids are running around trying to get their things ready for tomorrow night. Harmony won't be able to come because she has a recital, and Blaine is gone on an assignment. Only Ally's friend Tina is going to come and they'd like to meet you first tomorrow morning."

"Okay, first stop what you are doing. Breathe." Rachel did as she was told. "Don't worry about equipments, we'll get them when we get there. Don't worry about the ski clothes especially if they've already grown out of it. Just get some regular clothes ready okay."

"What are you going to do, buy them all the things?"

"Well, just the clothes. The skis we will rent, unless they want it then I will buy it."

"Santana, I thought you said that was it. You're buying too many things for them. You are already providing us transportation."

"Honey, this is my invitation. Can't I indulge a little, please?" Rachel gave up. Santana semed to get her way anyway.

"Fine, but don't get mad at me when they get used to all this and you can't give it to them."

"Noted. But I told you I am just excited and I am not trying to make a good impression on them with the material things. I was actually trying to make things easier for you so that you don't have to worry about packing all those things." Santana was right again as usual. She seemed to have an answer to a lot of things that would drive Rachel crazy during the packing.

Before Rachel could talk again, Tony popped his head in.

"Mom, have you seen my gloves?"

"Santana, what about gloves?"

"Not to worry if you can't find it."

"Santana said if you can't find it, don't worry about it. She also said don't worry about the skis and snowboards and the ski outfits if they don't fit. She'll take care of it. Tell your brother and sisters."

"Awesome! Thanks Santana."

"Did you hear that?"

"Yes, don't worry so much. I don't think they'll get too spoiled by me."

"Yeah right!" was all Rachel could say. She knew that Santana was enjoying her new role. She knew that she was excited and wanted so much to befriend Tony and Ally as much as she had the twins.

"Come on honey, don't be angry."

"I am not angry. I am just tired."

"I'd like to come over and help out as much as I can."

"DO you really want to see me like this?"

"I'd love to see every part of you no matter what you look like."

"Fine. Come on over. Maybe you can play with the twins while I get their suitcases packed and sort out the clothes they picked to bring."


End file.
